Rebel Without a Cause
by avatarjk137
Summary: 627 and Hamsterviel have teamed up, creating 6 new Experiments. What better use for them than revenge? At the same time, Lilo, Stitch and company face the threat of 628, who has arrived to confront Jumba about his true nature. Sequel to Experiment 000.
1. Chapter 1

**avatar: Greetings and salutations! This fic has been a fairly long time coming, and I hope it'll look as good to you on a computer screen as it looks in my head. Also, I found out that I'd made a continuity error in Experiment 000, and failed to account for Leroy and Stitch taking place 3 years after Stitch! The Movie. I plan to eventually go back and correct that in Experiment 000, and I'll be taking that into account when I write this fic.**

**Yeah… I do not own Lilo and Stitch. I only own… actually, the list is pretty long for this fic. For now, let's just say I don't own Lilo and Stitch and leave you to enjoy… Rebel Without a Cause.**

**Chapter 1**

**Late Arrival**

Jumba rubbed his four eyes and looked at the clock. Half past midnight, Hawaiian-Aleutian Islands time. Another late night doing any genetic evil genius work he could find that didn't violate his agreement not to create any more Experiments. Suddenly, he heard a rapid beeping, and put down his work as he strode to the cockpit of his lab/ship, now fully awake. He turned off the beeper and stared at the screen as he sat down. "What are we having here?" He mumbled aloud. "An unannounced guest?" He stared at the radar, which showed an inbound spaceship heading straight for the Hawaiian Islands. "If it was being Pleakley's family, Gantu, or Grand Councilwoman, they would have been announcing selves. That is leaving random stranger, any of Jumba's enemies, or worse, ex-wife! Hmmm… perhaps is being perfect time to be testing out new anti-air missiles…" Jumba's meaty hand stretched toward a red button, but was interrupted by the familiar blue face of the Grand Councilwoman popping onscreen.

"Jumba!" She greeted. "I'm glad you're awake. Not making any Experiments, I trust?"

"No, of course not, Grand Councilwoman," Jumba assured her. "I was just improving some old Experiment designs!" He held up a blueprint of what appeared to be attempt number nine to get Felix's cleanliness level correct. "Besides, Jumba is auctioning off all his genesis chambers, remember?"

"Ah, yes…" The Grand Councilwoman shifted uncomfortably. "That's one of the reasons I called. One of the chambers was stolen from auction hall. Oddly, the thief slaughtered over two dozen guards, and only took a few items. Your device, plus some very powerful antique weaponry."

"Hamsterviel," Jumba muttered.

"And 627, we believe. The guards were torn limb from limb. It was… a massacre."

"He must be planning to make Experiments himself," Jumba concluded. "Already has, if I am knowing him. He probably had all the plans ready when he was stealing the device." He thought for a moment. "You had another reason to call?"

"Ah, yes. A young individual is entering Earth's atmosphere on his way to see you. I need you to help straighten him out."

Jumba sighed and pulled his hand away from the red button, where it had been hovering comfortably the entire time. "Why partially reformed evil genius Jumba?"

"Because his predicament seems to be partially your fault," the Grand Councilwoman replied sharply, startling Jumba. "You'll figure it out when you meet him. And I'll send Cobra by in a week or so to check his progress." She broke contact before Jumba could ask any further questions.

"Hmmph. Some Grand Councilwoman. She is not even telling me who I am to be helping out!" He looked at the red button. "Maybe Jumba will only damage the ship," he chuckled, slamming the button.

* * *

A bright red racing ship sped through the grimy undercity. The planet of Cakaft had been decimated by ancient war millennia ago. A gravity bomb had gone off improperly; the result was that a third of the planet was comprised of huge boulders that floated loosely in the huge maw they had originally been in, and the gravity of the planet was in a constant state of flux. This allowed beautiful floating cities to be built right into the floating chunks of ground, but many of the cities were in a state of depression recently, attracting more and more unsavory types. 

A whole new unsavory type was currently piloting the space hot rod as it sideswiped a smaller spaceship, totaling it. The pilot, luckily unharmed, tried to catch the license plate number, but her eyes were involuntarily drawn to the bumper sticker, which read in Turian, 'DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF POWER!' By the time she pulled her eyes off it, the quickly moving ship was gone.

The pilot narrowed his eyes as he sped toward a sign. He flew through an obstacle course of 'Parking Lot Closed Until Further Notice' signs, and squeezed the ship through a pair of closed gates, shearing the paint from both sides of his cruiser. Finally, he screeched the vehicle to a rude halt and landed it roughly next to a dozen other cars in the lot, all of which bore similar collision marks.  
A furry red pair of feet jumped from the smoking ship and walked to the trunk, popping it open with a set of electronic pair of keys. Furry red paws grabbed at several bags, five hands holding ten plastic bags by their handles. The last paw shut the trunk, locked the car, and grabbed the bumper sticker, peeling it off the damaged vehicle.

Not two hundred feet away, a smaller white creature was using his newly stolen Genesis Chamber. "Yes… YESS!" Hamsterviel squealed in delight as six silver pods appeared in the bright electricity. Pods H1, H2, H3, H4, H5, and H6 clattered in a heap in front of him. "Jumba, you fool," Hamsterviel ranted. "You said I'd never amount to anything as a geneticist. YOU said, 'better be sticking to designing prisons, Hamsterwheel!' YOU ALWAYS GOT MY NAME WRONG, TOO! Well, I hope you don't mind, you lumbering sack of idiocy, if I use your notes and YOUR Genesis Chamber to DESTROY YOU AND ALL YOU CARE ABOUT! _MWAHAHAHA!_" Spasms of laughter racked Hamsterviel's body.

"Hamsterviel, Jumba's half a galaxy away," 627 chuckled as he kicked the door open and threw all but one bag unceremoniously onto the nearest countertop.

"I WAS MONOLOGUING, 627!" Hamsterviel yelled irritably.  
"Whatever. Meanwhile, _I_ was doing something productive," 627 bragged. He held up a box of Plorg-Fried Alien Toes. "I got groceries!" He immediately brought out the blue-green foodstuff and tossed one up, catching it in his jaws.  
Hamsterviel tried to keep his cool. After all, 627 _was_ thirty times better as a henchman – partner, he corrected himself silently – than Gantu, insane quirks or no. "627, I just finished generating the H Series Experiment Pods!"

"No fooling?" 627 asked, genuinely interested. "Want one?" He offered Hamsterviel an Alien Toe. "It's greeeennnn…" he sang.

"Not in the lab room," Hamsterviel shook his head in frustration. 627 shrugged and dumped the whole box in his mouth. "Anyway, 627, we can now start our evil plans!"

"Yeah, I know," 627 laughed, his second head extending to talk while the first chewed on the food. "This calls for a celebration!" He grabbed a space soda and popped it open, spraying foam all over the place. "C'mon, you gotta eat before vengeance!"

"I hope you didn't steal another car to get those groceries, you savage idiot of… savage idiocy!"

After managing not to laugh at Hamsterviel's insult, 627 began to answer as his other head ate the box the Alien Toes had come in. "I had to. I told you, I'm challenging myself. All this week, I have to solve any problem I encounter in a way involving grand theft auto. It's fun! You should try it!"

"To me, fun is ruling the universe," Hamsterviel growled. He was reminded for roughly the twentieth time in the two months since he had struck an alliance with 627 that the red Experiment was a murderous psychopath. Hamsterviel would let millions die to achieve his goal of universal domination. But 627… he would kill whomever he pleased for the sheer enjoyment of killing, and that put even Hamsterviel on edge. Luckily, he had come up with a few defense measures in case of betrayal, and had made sure to memorize EACH AND EVERY power 627 had access to. He felt as safe as he possibly could living in the same building as the creature. "Now, are you ready to return to Hawaii and carry out our evil plans?"

"As soon as I put this sticker back on my favorite spaceship," 627 rasped, holding up his bumper sticker.

Hamsterviel chuckled as he read the message. "It is a stylish addition to any spaceship," he admitted.

* * *

Kixx looked up at the stars, and sighed, relaxed and at peace with himself for the first time in too long. His kickboxing uniform hung loosely around his body, and his upper pair of hands rested behind his head while his lower pair lay at his sides. After an exhausting day of teaching kickboxing (which tended to be the days he also sparred with Stitch), he liked nothing better to do than to jump onto the roof of his dojo and gaze at the stars. He had been born there, or created, or whatever (he didn't really care what the correct word would be), but he barely had any memories outside of his time on Earth. He sighed. At first, it had been tough, knowing that he was a fighting Experiment, but that Stitch was his superior in that regard, as well as most others. However, he had finally come to accept it, and stargazing was one of the things that helped him do it. 

Still, he mused, it's nice to know there are still other Experiments who can beat Stitch up once in a while. He had heard about 000 and 627, and had even managed to get his hands on a tape from Gantu's ship showing the final fight with 000 (Absolute, was it now? No matter, he had left the planet promptly.), once Jumba had recovered the data from the wreck of a spaceship. It was quite the show, and he couldn't help but be glad that Stitch had needed help to bring down Absolute. _It's good for Stitch's ego to fight a foe he can't beat once in a while_, he rationalized.

One of the stars flashed and moved, and Kixx was jarred out of his thoughts. That's no star… His black eyes rotated in their sockets as they zoomed in. It was a small spaceship, shaped like an eagle's beak – a personal transport, and a new model, at that. It seemed to be headed toward Jumba's ship, but Kixx gasped as a missile struck the back, destroying one of four engines. The ship began to lose control, and after a few seconds, Kixx realized it was now headed more or less straight toward him. "What?!" He yelped, jumping to his feet as he backed up to the edge of his roof.

The ship pulled out of its dive just in time. He could now see easily that the ship bore the markings of the Galactic Armada, and was an unarmed personal transport, the type they gave to ambassadors. _Or people they want out of the way_, he added silently. It made a rough but surprisingly quiet landing on the opposite side of the roof from Kixx, and the hatch opened with a hiss.  
A small figure stepped out of the ship, and Kixx immediately identified it as an Experiment, though not one he was familiar with. The small figure wore a standard black-white striped Galactic Federation prison uniform set for a small four-armed being, except the upper arms and legs had their sleeves cut slightly short to accommodate for the wearer. In this case, the Experiment's upper arms and legs all seemed to be mechanical nearly to the elbow/knee joints, and that was where the uniform ended. He could also see a backpack on the creature, which had wires connecting to the arms and legs. These too were silver. The lower hands, he could see, were still biological.

"I'm looking for Doctor Jumba Jookiba," the Experiment said. Kixx could now tell a bit more: his voice pinned him as a young male, and it didn't have the roughness many Experiment voices did. The hatch closed, and without the extra light, Kixx could get a proper look at his face. He had white fur, with violet stripes on his cheeks. He wore a pair of goggles, but his black eyes were visible thru the lenses. He had a short snout with a small horn on the tip, and the same ears as Stitch. Besides his prosthetic limbs, the best hint Kixx could find to the Experiment's purpose and abilities was a Mohawk-like row of spines that ran back along his head. The spines were white like most of his fur, but the last inch or so glowed yellow. Two more similar spines extended from his back, one from each shoulder blade on either side of the backpack.

"Are… are you Experiment 628?" Kixx asked. He had heard that 627 had taken the pod of Jumba's last Experiment (aside from Leroy), and couldn't think of anyone else this could be.

The Experiment frowned, and the yellow on his spines faded to orange. "My name is Maverick," he announced, before repeating with the air of talking to a very stupid person, "Where… is… Jumba… Jookiba?"

Kixx growled. He didn't like being treated like an idiot. Furthermore, he had realized Jumba must've fired the missile, so he concluded this guy must be an enemy, maybe an Experiment created by a rival. "Why? Are you going to hurt him? Or kidnap him?"

"What?" Maverick asked. He sighed. "You're not going to tell me where he is, are you?"

"You'll have to go through me to get to him," Kixx said, settling into a kickboxing position.

Maverick scowled deeply, and the orange on his head and back spines changed again, to blood red. "It was your suggestion, pal!" He charged forward and punched with his upper right arm. Kixx saw the metal fist coming and caught it, testing the strength behind the blow as he did so.

_He's about as fast as Stitch, but not quite as strong_, Kixx realized. "Is this your best shot?" He asked mockingly. Maverick growled and hooked in with both his left arms, but Kixx caught them with his own. Maverick punched with his remaining free arm, his lower right, but Kixx caught that one too, now satisfied that the natural paws were about as strong as the metal ones. "You suck, Maverick," Kixx concluded with a smirk.

"Oh, now you're getting it," Maverick growled. Kixx noticed a sudden drop in temperature around him, and Maverick's backpack whirred to life. Suddenly, a powerful electric shock coursed through Kixx's body, causing him to yelp in pain, but seeming not to affect Maverick at all. Kixx slumped forward briefly, and Maverick slammed his head forward, bringing the horn on his nose forward into Kixx's chest. Kixx was knocked over, breaking his hold on Maverick's fists. "Feel like pointing the way yet?" Maverick asked, his voice betraying something like extreme annoyance.

"What did you do?" Kixx asked as he got to his feet.

"I'm not going to waste my time explaining things to you," Maverick snarled.

"NALA QUEESTA!" Kixx swung in with both right arms, but was surprised when Maverick jumped back from the sudden blow, dodging it by a long shot. He threw an uppercut at Maverick's jaw with his lower left, but Maverick caught the blow, shocked Kixx again, and backhanded the purple Experiment across the roof. Kixx got up, snarling, and found a spare bamboo pole that he had left over from helping to redecorate a nearby restaurant. He threw it at Maverick like a javelin, and ran after it as fast as he could. Maverick tilted his head, avoiding the javelin, and ducked under Kixx's follow up of a quadruple hook, punching Kixx in the gut with an electrically charged fist. Kixx tried to kick Maverick as he stumbled back, but Maverick grabbed his leg, swung him in a circle, and threw him to the ground. "Ugh…" Kixx got up, and ran at Maverick again, this time spinning like a top with all his fists out. Maverick jumped up, aiming to land on Kixx's shoulders, and came down headfirst with both mechanical hands crackling with blue lightning.

"ENOUGH!" Maverick grabbed Kixx's shoulders and shocked him heavily. Maverick was thrown off to the side, his metal paws causing him to noisily screech to a halt, leaving a trail of sparks. He shook his head clear and walked over to where Kixx was getting up. He grabbed Kixx by his chest and heaved him up to an unsteady standing position. "I'm done with you, and I don't want to really screw you up. So…" he shook Kixx a bit. "JUST POINT ME IN THE GENERAL DIRECTION OF JUMBA!" Kixx groaned and pointed in the direction he knew led to the Pelekai household and Jumba's spaceship. "FINALLY!" Maverick yelled, his spines fading back to orange. He then promptly threw Kixx off the rooftop, where he landed fifteen feet below on the sidewalk.

Kixx quickly looked over his body. _No serious injuries, but I'm really going to be sore in the morning._ He looked up and yelped at the sight of something dropping toward him.

**End of Chapter**

**Yeah, I wanted the first chapter to have some action, some suspense, some character description, some character development… some of everything. I hope the end result is enjoyable. Oh, and kudos to my new beta, Jimperator.**


	2. Chapter 2

**avatar: sorry it's a bit late, but that's the way the cookie crumbles. Besides, my great new beta is having some email issues. Hope you're looking for more action, because you're getting more action today.**

**Maverick: avatarjk137 does not own Lilo and Stitch. However, he does own me and the contents of this story. Now, I demand you read this story with me in it!**

**avatar: those who want to see Maverick beaten will get their wishes, but not until later in the story.**

**Chapter 2**

**Battle Frenzied**

Maverick landed on Kixx's chest feet-first and bounced off, cushioning his fall. He then landed lightly on his steel paws and looked at Kixx. "Thanks for your help," he spat as he began to walk away.

"Why did you attack my cousin?!" Maverick's head snapped around at the shrill voice. Slushy had just been packing up his snow-cone stand for the night when he'd seen Kixx topple off his dojo's roof, followed by the strange Experiment. "You won't get away with that!" Slushy blew a freezing gust at Maverick, who jumped away in time to avoid being frozen solid.

"I have to fight more of you?!" Maverick's spines glowed red again. "Fine then! I'm good and pissed off now, and I'll be happy to get you!" His claws, mechanical and otherwise, crackled with energy as he ran at Slushy, sparks dancing around him. Slushy breathed a blast of ice at him, but he jumped over it. Slushy then conjured up a massive sword of ice and swung it, yet Maverick parried with his claws, the electric charge melting quickly through the ice. The sword then melted in half, but Slushy slashed again with the blunted end, forcing Maverick back.

Slushy was an incredibly strong fighter in his own right, and considered himself to be arguably the strongest 500-series Experiment. He threw the broken sword he held, and conjured two smaller weighted staves. "I won't let you go around hurting my ohana!" Maverick smashed the sword and charged forward again, but Slushy blocked his four claws with the four weights of the staff and blew ice shards at Maverick's face. Maverick ducked his body back, letting the shards pass right over him, and kicked Slushy in the chest, knocking the blue Experiment away.

"What's an ohana? Is that where I just kicked you?" Maverick charged up more electricity, but this time he pointed his finger at Slushy and fired it in a bolt. Slushy dodged out of the way and responded by blowing himself a baseball bat. He created some iceballs and began cracking them toward Maverick.

"Ohana means family," Slushy recited as Maverick ducked under an iceball, dodged a second, and shocked two more with lightning bolts. "Family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten."

"That's so cute," Maverick sneered. "But take it from me, fool…" he zapped Slushy's bat, causing it to explode and knocking Slushy down, "families don't always work that way." He ran toward Slushy, who whipped up a new bat and swung it at Maverick. Maverick grabbed the bat and pulled it away. "There are some families you _want_ to leave behind, to forget." He slammed the bat into Slushy's chest, smashing his icy body to pieces. "Did I just kill him?" Maverick wondered.

"Not even close!" Slushy replied, reforming behind Maverick and blowing more ice shards. Maverick dropped the bat and dodged them. Slushy then grabbed the bat once more. He jumped into the air and created an ice slide, sliding toward Maverick at a high speed. "I don't know about _you_, but around here, ohana means a lot!" He swung the bat, and Maverick jumped over it and fired a bolt. Slushy blocked with the bat, destroying it, but he simply conjured a bigger one with spikes. "You can't beat us!" Maverick dodged again, and tackled Slushy, knocking him off the slide. Slushy rolled to his feet, and Maverick threw a punch, which he dodged.

"I'm the only one who decides who I can and can't beat!" Maverick yelled. "Now go away, freak!" He fired a quick series of bolts, which Slushy dodged. Slushy growled and created a huge horned plow of ice and threw it at Maverick. The large construct created a large grinding noise as it slid down the sidewalk toward Maverick. The white Experiment took a deep breath, gathering energy, and fired a large bolt into the plow, melting a steaming hole through it.

"Eep!" Slushy jumped away from the bolt, and landed hard on his side. Maverick jumped through the widening hole in Slushy's attack and grabbed the ice-generating Experiment by the neck. He then poured electricity into Slushy's body, partially melting him and causing him to go limp.

"Good riddance." Maverick dropped Slushy into the steaming puddle that had fallen from his body and continued on his way.

* * *

"Ughh…"

"Hey, Kixx, wake up!

"Go… away… my head…" Kixx muttered in Turian.

"Open your eyes, sleepyhead!"

"Nosy?" Kixx's eyes shot open to see Nosy's enormous shnozz hovering right above his head.

"How long have I been out?" Although Nosy was talking in English as usual, Kixx had switched to his more comfortable Turian.

"A few minutes. Who's the new guy? I wanna know everything, so spill!"

"Not the time, Nosy. He's after Jumba, and he's really tough!"

"I saw. He really messed Slushy up. I hope the little blue guy's alright."

"What? He's hurt?" Kixx turned to see Slushy lying in the puddle, unmoving. "Blitznack!" He turned back to Nosy. "Nosy, gather up any Experiments you can find. I'm going to see if Slushy's alright, and then I'm going to have Yaarp raise the alarm."

"Good idea. I can't wait to go tell everyone there's a new Experiment on the loose."

* * *

Maverick ran along the dirt road, his stubby legs and metal feet surprisingly fast and quiet. The purple creature had given him a beeline path, and Maverick didn't mind cutting through the occasional strand of trees. He did have his doubts as to whether this was the correct direction, but he had a hunch the four-armed brawler had been honest, and he hadn't gotten one incorrect hunch since…

"Where are you running off to, buddy?" Maverick stopped and turned. Two more of the creatures were right next to him. One was a red male with a long, skinny torso. He had three orifices along his back that were wafting smoke. The other creature was female, and a greenish-cyan color. Where the other creatures he'd seen were mammalian, she had more of a decidedly squid-like appearance. The red one had spoken. "We were on a nice little romantic moonlight stroll when we got word that you've been causing a bit of a ruckus," he growled. "You hurt our cousins, and we can't forgive that kind of thing."

"One big happy family, eh?" Maverick responded. "Well, you guys keep on confronting me, and I keep on knocking you down. I suppose that's how you idiots do it on this primitive planet?"

"You can't mouth off to me like that!" Yang growled. He dug into the ground on all fours, and the smoke streaming from the holes on his back increased. Finally, globs of lava shot from them, streaming right at Maverick.

"What? Lava?" Maverick jumped away. _That lava looks pretty avoidable, but if he hits me with that, I'll be in trouble._ He zapped Yang, and was overjoyed when Yang was too dug in to avoid the attack and took the hit. "Is that all?" Maverick sneered.

"Don't turn your back on your opponents," a voice said behind him. He turned in time to be sprayed in the face by a high-velocity jet of water. "You should pay a bit more attention," Yin scolded as she plugged one tentacle into a fire hydrant.

"Meh, it's just water," Maverick said. "Big deal. I let you hit me." He threw a lightning bolt at Yin; however, the cephalopod Experiment ducked the bolt and blasted more water at him. _Harmless, refreshing water,_ Maverick thought. _I can let it hit me._ "AHHHH!" The water sprayed up, and the electrical charge in his own body quickly short-circuited, leaving him smoking and spluttering in the water. "Damn. I can't touch water when I'm charged; I should've known that." He jumped out of the puddle. "Now I'm too wet to charge again without shocking myself. I guess I'll have to go physical."

"Guess who!?" Maverick turned and dodged several more spheres of lava. "Pay attention when you're being teamed up on, man!" Yang snickered, shooting more lava into the air. The globs separated into smaller projectiles and rained down toward Maverick. Maverick closed his eyes, took a breath, and dodged every smoking bullet. "How'd you do that?" Yang muttered.

"Trade secret!" Maverick yelled as he slammed his fist into Yang's snout, knocking him back. Yang recovered and launched more lava at him, but Maverick ducked underneath the shot and grabbed Yang by the neck. He tore Yang loose from his position, and tossed him over to Yin. "I bet you can't make hot lava without staying on the ground, right?" Yang landed on his back legs, and Yin shot a stream of water at Maverick. "And YOU can't hurt me unless I'm juiced up. No problem."

"I can't hurt you with just water, you say?" Yin was now completely inflated with water. "Let me correct that theory!" She sprayed a concentrated jet of high pressured water at Maverick, who dodged out of the way just in time as the blast struck a tree, peeling off all the bark.

"Wow, that is forceful," Maverick shrugged. "But I can still just beat the stuffing out of you." He ran at Yin and Yang. Yang concentrated, and sprayed a steady stream of lava at a low velocity down onto the ground in front of him. Yin then sprayed it with lava, flash-forming a solid wall of black volcanic rock between them and Maverick. "Nice trick, but I 'm a good jumper!" Maverick vaulted over the wall, only to get hit with the same jet of high-force water. "Oof!" He was forced back over the wall, and landed on the far side hard on his back.

"You done underestimating us?" Yang called from over the wall.

"Yeah, I think so," Maverick said as he struggled to his feet. He coughed up some water. "Of course, I do have one trick left…." He pushed as hard as he could against the rock wall, and it tipped over, falling on Yin and Yang. He was rewarded with their cries of surprise and pain. "Yeah! Take that!" Maverick laughed. He shook himself off, leaving his fur fluffy. _I should be dry and ready to shock again in a minute or two._ He ran off, his spines fading back to orange, then yellow. _Now to find Jumba Jookiba._

**End of Chapter**

**Naturally, italics represent thought.**

**Next chapter: The Experiments set up an ambush, and Maverick walks right into it. Also, we finally begin to learn the true nature of Experiment 628.**


	3. Chapter 3

**avatar: sending you this chapter live from Princeton, NJ! Woo! Time for plot development, flashbacking and stuff... and more action! I hope you enjoy it! Disclaimer by Cannonball.**

**Cannonball: avatarjk137 doesn't own Lilo and Stitch. He only owns Maverick, whom I don't get to fight, and the contents of this story.**

**avatar: enjoy the chapter!**

**Chapter 3**

**Revelation**

Moses woke up, bleary-eyed. He heard a blaring in the distance, and dimly recognized it as the weird creature Lilo had installed in the hula school as an alien invasion alarm. Until today, it had never gone off. This was ridiculous, there was no such thing as aliens. Something must just be irritating the poor creature, like a rash or something. Yeah, that had to be it. He'd ask Lilo about it when he saw her next. Moses shook it off, rolled over, and was soon back to sleep.

* * *

"Alright then," Bonnie said, satisfied. "All you morons got the plan?" The gathering of Experiments in front of her nodded, and she grinned. She was glad Nosy had left her in command of the Experiments he'd roused; she loved bossing people around. A blaring in the distance registered in her mind as Yaarp. The alarm had been sounded. "Okay, then, in positions. We'll take the new guy down, Experiment-style!" The Experiments all grinned, and jumped into their 'positions'. Bonnie had found out that Maverick was approaching through this stand of trees to reach the house, and she'd cooked up an ambush on the quick. Although stealing was her specialty, ambushes were extremely useful to theft, and she'd learned the trade as best she could. 

As they watched quietly, seeing with vision beyond the limits of humans, Maverick came rushing up, dodging between brush and tree trunks with the agility of a jaguar. Bonnie grinned. "Get him!" As she yelled the words, Maverick's spines flashed red, and he looked at her. No, it had happened a split-second before she'd yelled. But that wasn't possible, was it? Bonnie shook the thoughts away as the first stage of the trap sprung. Clyde, Sparky, and Splodyhead all popped out of the brush, firing their respective projectiles. Sparky's bolts of lightning lanced out at an overhanging branch above Maverick, igniting and splintering it. Clyde and Splodyhead's bolts of green and red plasma slammed down around him, and Maverick rolled away. He jumped sideways as he got up, avoiding a burning palm frond.

"Where are you all coming from?" He yelled angrily. "I thought humans were the dominant species on this planet?!" He shocked Splodyhead with a bolt of lightning, and destroyed the log Sparky was standing on with another bolt, stunning him and making him fall. "Why do I have to keep dealing with you?!" He shot another bolt of lightning at Clyde, but he ducked under and shot another spray of plasma at Maverick, who jumped over it.

"You're the one attacking our island," Clyde said.

"Exactly!" Bonnie added. "Phase 2, attack!" Richter leapt from the brush backwards, landing tail-first and causing a large fissure to open up under Maverick. He jumped away, but Hammerface dropped from above toward him. Maverick grabbed Hammerface by his tail and threw him into Richter, but Clyde swung at him with his mechanical arm, which had now reconfigured into a glowing dagger. Maverick leapt away again, his spines flashing, but was distracted by the deafening noise of demolition. He turned around as Deforestator burst from the undergrowth, whipped into a spinning cyclone headed straight toward him.

"What in-" Maverick slammed his mechanical hands into the tornado that was Deforestator, but the whirlwind stopped with Deforestator's long claws piercing thru the metal of his limbs. The purple claws stuck out from the back of Maverick's prosthetic hand, leaving a trail of sparks. "You broke them!" Maverick yelled angrily. He jumped backward, pulling Deforestator along with him, and roughly suplexed his head against a tree trunk, stunning him. The force of the action tore off one of Maverick's prosthetic hands just above the wrist, leaving a sparking stump. Maverick angrily turned around, dodging a headbutt by Hammerface, and kicked him in the back multiple times. He faced Clyde. "See how you like it!" He grabbed Clyde's metallic forearm in both biological hands, and kicked off against his stomach, tearing it free.

Clyde yelled and swatted at Maverick. "You're gonna pay for that, kid!" Maverick dodged the swat and backpedaled, and turned just as Richter brought his tail down, creating a spike of earth that launched Maverick into the air. He came down on his knees near his torn-off prosthetic, and grabbed it, holding it to the stump. Richter and Clyde ran toward him, Clyde holding his metal hand in his furry one like a club, but stopped near him when they saw the prosthetic bubble and fuse back together.

Maverick flexed his newly rebuilt hand. "Good as new." He grabbed Richter and Clyde's heads, and smashed them forcefully together. "SEE?!" He looked around. "I know there are more of you here." He pressed a button on the lens of his goggles, and that lens lit up green as he looked around. "I see you…" he blasted another bolt of lightning, and Bonnie jumped off a palm frond as it burst into flame.

"Jeez! This crazy guy's blasting everything! Anyone still conscious, HELP ME OUT HERE!" she yelped.

"Right!" Hammerface growled as he dropped on Maverick again, but he jumped away, then back toward Hammerface with a side kick, knocking him down and out. He turned in time to get blasted by multiple fiery blasts of plasma from Splodyhead, and Sparky flew toward the stunned Maverick.

"You've gotten far enough!" Sparky laughed as he circled Maverick, blasting him with a field of electricity. Even Stitch would have trouble with this attack, taking constant hits from a target too fast to hit. Maverick growled and began to crackle and glow with electricity. "Ready to give up yet?!" Sparky asked.

"Not really," Maverick growled. Sparky's eyes widened as he realized Maverick was completely undamaged, except for the electricity crackling around him. "I hope it's not a big disappointment to you that my powers deal with absorbing plasma and electricity…" He yelled, and a dome of electrical energy formed around him and exploded outward. "And reflecting it back with more power." He looked around, staring at the damage his final attack had caused. All the Experiments caught in the blast had been blown back and lost consciousness. Bonnie got up with a cough, as she had been out of the blast zone, and Maverick grabbed her by the chest fur, hauling her up until her feet left the ground. "Why are you attacking me?!"

"To protect Jumba, moron" Bonnie said. "We can't have stranger freaks like you attacking him. We do owe him a couple for creating us, ya know."

Maverick growled. "Am I close to him?"

"Yeah, his ship is just another few hundred meters through these trees. That alarm's been sounded, though, so if you don't hurry, you're gonna face a whole lot more of us."

He dropped Bonnie and walked off, muttering about how much trouble this was.

* * *

"Ugh, this is being bad, this is not turning out well…" Jumba muttered. 

Lilo and Stitch ran thru the entrance of Jumba's spaceship, Lilo still in her pajamas. She looked at the clock, which read 5:15 A.M. It wasn't long until dawn. "Jumba, Yaarp sounded the alarm. Are we really being invaded?" she asked, stifling a yawn.

"It is… complicated," Jumba said. "I may have… shot a missile at an approaching guest of mine, and now he is very angry, and he is attacking any Experiment he comes across on the way to see me."

"Oh, then he'll never get here," Stitch chuckled.

"Are you being sure, 626? My guest is Experiment 628." Stitch's eyes shot to fully open, as did Lilo's.

"Why did you shoot 628's ship down?" Lilo asked.

"I was not knowing it was him until he was making emergency landing on island, coming within scan range," Jumba muttered. He wasn't being completely honest, but it was true that he didn't know until he did the scan that his guest was 628. "Now he is likely being very hostile when he reaches here."

"Jumba, this has been bothering Stitch since we first found out about the pod," Stitch said. "What does 628 do?"

"Ah, Jumba was designing 628 as challenge to himself," the evil genius said, turning around and pacing. "I was having computer select at random two primary functions I always was wanting to try on Experiments, but never got the chance to. Then I was to combine both functions into single Experiment."

"So what were the functions?" Lilo asked.

"Primary functions are being 'fuse with host body' and 'global revolution'." Jumba paused for a moment to let this sink in before continuing. "Experiment 628 is originally a sentient vapor. Is designed to scan planet is activated on, specifically the children of the dominant species. It is targeting adolescent whose views are lying most contrary to views of family and planet, and finding that adolescent. It is _fusing_ with him or her, and making them subconsciously aware that they can be changing permanently into an Experiment form whenever they are liking. And soon, they subconsciously are activating the transformation, strengthening their revolutionary feelings and giving them power beyond their wildest dreams! Soon, I have given a young being massive power, and that being's planet has a new government!" Jumba couldn't suppress a maniacal laugh. "And the best part is, 628 is not even necessarily being evil! If it is being used to overthrow a corrupt government, is for the best, no?"

"It uses adolescents because that's the stage where most beings are most rebellious, right?" Stitch asked.

"Correct, 626."

"Isn't that a bit evil, turning some teenager into an Experiment, though?" Lilo asked.

"Bah. If they were targeted by 628, they were wanting it deep down."

"What about the family?" Lilo persisted

"A child that rebellious would likely being unhappy with his family."

"Jumba, this guy is about to attack US," Stitch reminded them. "What are 628's powers?"

Jumba shrugged. "Beyond becoming stronger, more durable, faster, and more agile, 628's powers after fusing are being created by subconscious desires of target child. Is totally unknown."

"So Stitch don't know what I'm up against?"

"What do you mean, 'you'?" Lilo asked Stitch.

Stitch grabbed the samurai sword Jumba had bought and took a few practice strokes. "He'll be hostile when he gets here, right? We can't just let him pound on Jumba. And even if you've still got some powers from Absolute, Lilo, I'm still the most experienced fighter."

A beeping sound came from the monitoring equipment. "Perhaps we should be going outside," Jumba said. "That beeping is meaning he is arriving imminently."

* * *

_Maverick growled and yanked his hands. No good. All four of his hands were bound to the armrests of the metal chair he had been directed to sit in, effectively immobilizing him. He had been told the Grand Councilwoman wanted to talk to him face-to-face, and him being as dangerous as he was, they wanted to take safety precautions, which he understood, even if he didn't like it. He sighed and stopped resisting; his powerful ears had picked up footsteps approaching the room, both natural bare feet and mechanical limbs. He watched in interest as the Grand Councilwoman herself walked through the door. Although she wasn't a particularly threatening figure, she carried herself in a regal, imposing way. Flanking her were two large, metal constructs with designs reminiscent of the person Maverick now knew as Captain Gantu; the new remote-controlled soldier units the Galactic Federation had recently begun production of. In addition, there were four of the more common reptilian soldiers, all circling around the room to surround Maverick with guns at the ready._

"_I wasn't aware I was this dangerous," Maverick snickered. "I can understand being strapped down, but strapped down AND guns pointed at me? Isn't that a bit much?"_

"_Well, given the track record of Experiments, I thought it was best to overprepare, 628," The Councilwoman replied._

_Maverick's orange spines flashed red. "First of all, stop calling me 628. My name is Maverick. Second, what in the universe are you talking about?"_

_The Grand Councilwoman simply stared at him for a moment before responding. "You really don't know, do you?"_

"_Know what? Somebody please clue me in here?"_

"_Maybe I should take a sample of your blood to confirm it." She nodded to one of the lizard-like soldiers, who approached with a syringe and stabbed Maverick, drawing a small amount of pink blood._

"_That's IT!" Maverick yelled. "I didn't agree to get poked with syringes! I'm busting loose!" He ran an electric current through the chair, but nothing happened._

"_We suspected you might try to use an electric current on the chair," a soldier said proudly. "We saw you do it on the _Eureka_. That's why the chair is built to withstand a very high voltage. You can't short-circuit it, trog!"_

"_Again with the trog!" Maverick yelled, now in a full-fledged tantrum. "I am SICK of being in the dark and I am TIRED of people insulting me!" He yanked his hands against the metal straps as hard as he could, and suddenly the bonds around him deactivated, as if told to by a remote control. He leapt up onto the top of the chair and sent out four perfectly aimed bolts of electricity, disarming the four biological soldiers. The robotic soldiers instantly raised their arms and shot two identical bolts of plasma at Maverick, who let the bolts strike his body, burning holes in his clothing. He absorbed the plasma, and channeled it into a powerful green bolt of lightning, which he hurled at the robot on the Councilwoman's left. It struck the mechanical head, destroying it, and the headless body dropped heavily to the ground._

_The Grand Councilwoman simply stood there, unafraid of the creature that had easily incapacitated five of her six guards. "Are you satisfied?"_

_Maverick panted heavily from the effort, his spines fading to orange, and then to yellow. "Very. Now why did you just take my blood, and what do you seem to know about me that I don't?"_

"_Maverick, you are Experiment 628, the last of Jumba Jookiba's genetic Experiments to be activated. We received notice that you were activated on planet Omnitaurus roughly 8 weeks ago."_

"_You… think I'm some genetic experiment?" Maverick began to laugh. "Funny. That's funny. I'm Omnitaurian, born and raised, just like the rest of the crew."_

_The Grand Councilwoman raised what would've been an eyebrow, and looked at the soldier who'd taken Maverick's blood. By now, he'd reluctantly plugged it into a large device with a computer monitor. "It's sorta true, ma'am," the guard said. "DNA is reading out as both Omnitaurian and one of Jumba's Experiments. That's pretty weird."_

"_No, it isn't," The Councilwoman sighed, turning around and staring at the door. "I should expect it… shouldn't I, Rahndous?"_

_Maverick lost his footing and fell back into the seat. "What did you just call me?"_

"_That is your name, isn't it?" She said with a wry smile. "Only one unexplained Omnitaurian disappearance that fits the bill Jumba gave me." Her smile faded. "I must admit I was put off by the fact that Jumba's final Experiment transforms a person, but at least it only targets those who want it subconsciously."_

"_So that's what happened to me?" Maverick muttered. "Some scientist's experiment targeted me, and turned me into this?"_

"_Yes. This also means you're a juvenile," the Grand Councilwoman observed. "So I'm going to drop the charge of piracy and the related charges, provided you go see Jumba yourself. I want him to have a little heart-to-heart chat with you regarding what he's done to you."_

"_Yeah, sure," Maverick waved. "Whatever. Where is he?"_

"_He's on Earth, a technologically backward planet populated by a mammalian race called humans, the vast majority of whom have no idea other planets hold life."_

"_So it's just like my home without interstellar tourists." Maverick smirked._

"_Yes, although the area he lives in gets a massive influx of tourism from the rest of the humans. After serving a term of exile on Earth for creating genetic Experiments much like your current form, Jumba still lives there willingly."_

"_That's more than all I need to know," Maverick said. "When can I leave, and can I get some new clothes before I go? Your soldiers just shot my shirt full of plasma burns."_

"_You can leave now, if you wish," the Grand Councilwoman replied. Although it was subtle, Maverick sensed that she was letting him know she wanted him gone for a while. "Do you know how to pilot a small ship, or should I arrange a chauffer for you?"_

"_I'll learn how to fly on the way," he replied calmly. "I'm sure it's easy enough."_

"_Maybe I should-"_

"_No," he said sharply. "I'd just get into an argument, or maybe a fistfight with the guy by the time we reached Orth, or whatever the planet's name is."_

"_Fine. You," she pointed to a guard, "prep an unarmed personal cruiser and upload directions to Earth to its navigational system. You, phone in to the mechanical crew to repair this." She gestured to the beheaded soldier-bot. "And you two escort 628 to the fitting room so he can get a prisoner's uniform fitted to him, and then to the hangar. The ship should be ready by then."_

"_Wait…" Maverick interrupted. "Prisoner's uniform?"_

"_Technically, you're still a prisoner here," she replied bluntly. "Which brings me to my next point: attack anybody onboard, except in self-defense, and I'll throw you in jail for the rest of your days. Clear?"_

"_Crystal," Maverick said with a gulp._

**End of Chapter**

**Yes, Maverick is Experiment 628. He is also the young Omnituarian who's already fused with it. I thought it would be a unique take on 628. For another great take on the character, read TwilightBorn1983's Thru New Eyes, which I can only hope will someday be completed.**

**Next Chapter: Maverick and Stitch square off. Will Maverick get to Jumba, or will Stitch end Maverick's nasty habit of beating up the Experiments?**


	4. Chapter 4

**avatar: It's good to be back. Sorry I'm late, I'll just say that email sucks. To make up for it, the next chapter will be a doubleheader. One big honking flashback chapter! I don't own Lilo and Stitch, just Maverick and the other characters that'll appear in this story later. And the contents of this story. _Bon appetit!_**

**Chapter 4**

**Sunrise**

Maverick finally emerged from the dense bunch of trees, panting. That marathon he had just run, stopping only to fight what must have been Jumba's Experiments… that would have tired anyone out. He saw the red spaceship, though, and knew he was at the right place. He looked around. Climbing out of the ship were three figures. One of them was a small girl, and she matched the description he'd heard of a human. He knew a couple of humans lived with Jumba and knew of alien existence. There was another Experiment, a blue one of about his height, but this one seemed a little different. He couldn't quite place his finger on it, but this guy wasn't just the same as the others he'd fought. The third had to be Jumba Jookiba. Tall, chubby, four eyes, ill-fitting floral-print shirt… that was him.

"So I finally found you, Jumba!" He called. His anger returned, and his spines flashed red. "What's the deal?!"

"You stay away from Jumba!" Lilo yelled.

"IH! Don't hurt Jumba!" Stitch added, jumping in front of his creator.

Maverick chuckled. "One more? Fine. One more." He inhaled deeply, feeling the familiar temperature drop as his backpack drew in energy for him to use. The backpack was a great tool that absorbed ambient heat and light and converted it into electricity he could use, and he never would've gotten this far without it, because he couldn't actually generate energy on his own. He turned to Stitch, now crackling with electricity. "Get over here so I can whup you!"

"Gladly!" Stitch angrily charged Maverick, fists at the ready. He punched at Maverick's head, but Maverick ducked and kicked Stitch's legs, disrupting his balance. He then drove his lower hands' claws into Stitch's chest, pouring electricity into him, and pushed Stitch away with one mechanical hand. Stitch stumbled back a few steps and landed on his rear. "Ow… gaba?" He looked at Maverick, studying him for a moment.

Maverick decided to take this chance to do the same. He double-clicked a button on one lens of his goggles, and a pair of crosshairs appeared over Stitch in his vision, along with an empty bar. It would take a little while, but the complete scan would give him plenty of information on the blue Experiment, and besides, the guy obviously wasn't going to go down so easily.

Stitch seemed satisfied with looking over his opponent, because he sank into a kickboxing stance and advanced on Maverick again. Maverick threw a lightning bolt at him, but Stitch leapt into the air and the bolt struck the grass harmlessly. Maverick shot at Stitch twice more in the air, but missed. Stitch landed behind the fused Experiment and tried to kick him in the back of the head, but Maverick grabbed Stitch's foot and flipped him back over to the front of him. He then shocked Stitch's foot, threw him lightly into the air, and kicked him as he came down. Stitch bounced and rolled, landing face-first at Jumba's feet.

"626! Are you being okay?" Jumba asked, concerned.

"I'm fine," Stitch mumbled, rubbing his chest where he'd been hit. "He doesn't hit that hard, but I can't get one shot in."

"Give up?" Maverick asked.

"Naga!" Stitch got to his feet and charged again. This time, he slid forward feet-first. Maverick jumped, and feinted a downward kick. Stitch fell for the trick, trying to grab Maverick's foot, and Maverick delayed a split-second before punching Stitch in the head instead. While Stitch was off-balance, he struck him in the chest several times. Stitch growled and swiped with his claws, but Maverick blocked with his prosthetic hand and hurled Stitch away.

Maverick held out the metal hand as the claw marks in it filled themselves back in. "You can't beat me. You can't even touch me. Why don't you stop trying?"

"Shut it!" Stitch jumped up and charged again. But no luck. He tried every fighting style he'd learned, but Jujitsu, Tai Chi, judo… they all seemed to end with him getting dodged, blocked, and generally evaded, followed by a few tight blows that knocked him away. Maverick even slipped his foot between Stitch's twice, keeping his stance from working. However, you'd think Maverick was the one losing the fight. Stitch had only a few scratches on him and was as ready to fight as when he'd started, but Maverick was panting heavily, evidently tired. The sun rose and bathed the scene in its light, and Stitch growled at the bright light. "Had enough? You look tired."

"I'm about ready to wrap this up, yeah," Maverick panted as his goggles tinted in the sunlight. "Let's go!" He charged forward, his four fists crackling with electricity.

"You've gotten far enough!" Stitch extended his hidden arms, spines, and antennae, and leapt forward. Maverick dodged Stitch's tackle and grabbed Stitch's leg, but Stitch curled around and grabbed Maverick's legs, pulling them out from under him. Maverick caught himself on his hands and flipped away, shooting a bolt at Stitch. "Urgh!" Stitch took the bolt in the gut and landed flat on his back. He stumbled to his feet. "Jumba, throw me the sword."

"You are thinking razor-sharp Earth weapon's superior reach and cutting power will be giving you an advantage coupled with your superior strength?"

"Ih. So throw it to me."

"Will do." Jumba threw the katana he had purchased (which Stitch had brought outside just in case), and Stitch caught it by the sheath in one hand, quickly unsheathing it. The blade shined in the morning sun.

Maverick laughed. "You think you can hurt me with an archaic thing like that?"

"Yeah, I think so!" Stitch threw the sword's sheathe at Maverick and charged with the katana behind him. Maverick grabbed the sheathe, and dodged the upward slash Stitch began with. Stitch kicked at Maverick, who blocked, and whipped the sword across at Maverick. The white Experiment blocked with the sheathe he grabbed, letting it fly away, and kicked Stitch. Stitch blocked with his lower pair of hands, and brought the sword down in a powerful cutting strike.

There was a flash and a ring, and Maverick had clapped the blade between his metal hands. "GOT IT!" He punched forward with his lower hands, but Stitch grabbed them with his own. Maverick growled and began to shock Stitch through the blade. "Grappling with me is VERY unwise." He increased the voltage, and laughed as Stitch cried out in pain. "Can't take my max, can you?"

"You… don't know what I can do!" Stitch began pushing, shoving Maverick back inch by inch. Maverick growled again and dug his feet into the ground, but Stitch was still pushing him back. Finally, Maverick's backpack cracked against one of the metal support struts to the ship, and Stitch's sword began to lower toward Maverick's forehead. "Now who can't take it?" Stitch asked. Maverick blinked, and spat in Stitch's eyes. As Stitch cried out in pain and surprise, Maverick pushed the sword back, and kicked Stitch in the gut, knocking him down and away.

"Hey!" Lilo yelled. "That was a cheap shot!"

"That was my only shot!" Maverick argued. As Stitch got up, Maverick privately added, "Besides, nobody called any rules."

"Fine, here's a rule," Stitch muttered, wiping his eyes, "NAGA SPITTING!"

"You can have rules," Maverick chuckled. "But it doesn't mean I'll PLAY BY THEM!" He shocked Stitch with another bolt and jumped forward. He dodged Stitch's sword swing, feinted a punch, and swept Stitch's feet out from under him with a kick. "After all, you can't expect pirates to play by the rules."

"Pirates?" Stitch kicked out at Maverick, but Maverick jumped back and flung another bolt.

"It's been an interesting two months," the white Experiment said. Stitch blocked the bolt with his sword, but the bolt knocked it away, and it landed blade-down in the grass, sticking up at an angle.

"Meega nala queesta!" Stitch curled into a ball and rolled at Maverick. Maverick put up two arms and blocked it, but Stitch's rotation and velocity smashed him backward into a curved palm tree.

"Wow, that's painful." Maverick watched as Stitch rolled toward him. "It was dumb of me to block it… eh?" He looked up as he regained his footing to see Stitch barreling toward him, still in ball form. "Not this time!" Maverick vaulted into the air, dodging Stitch's attack with room to spare. "Your attempts are pointless! You're fated to lose!"

"I don't believe in fate!" Stitch rolled up and off the curved tree, flying in midair toward Maverick. "The future can be changed!"

"Only if you can see it!" Maverick's mechanical feet flared with energy, and boosted him higher into the air, dodging Stitch again. Stitch kept going and smacked into the ship hull. "Hey," Maverick realized his spines fading from red to yellow, "check me out! I'm hovering! I can fly!" He kicked forward in victory, but the energy stream coming from his foot was now thrusted forward, and he was propelled backward into a tree, where he fell to the ground. "I'll figure it out," he muttered, regaining his footing as the jets sputtered out.

Jumba stared. "Were those flight capabilities just be activating for the first time?"

"Yes, yes they were," Maverick responded, getting to his feet. Jumba thought for a moment about this, and about what Maverick had said earlier, but before Maverick could speak to Jumba further, Stitch got up, snarling, and rocketed toward Maverick in ball form again. Maverick dodged, and Stitch uncurled, landed, jumped into the air, and dive-bombed Maverick again. "This is getting annoying," Maverick groaned, his spines flashing back to red.

"626!" Jumba cried suddenly. "I am having it! 628 is having precognitive abilities!"

"What?" Stitch asked as he landed again. "You mean he sees things before they happen?"

"It must be how he is dodging or blocking every attack!"

"Then how can I beat him?!"

"I already told you, you _can't_!" Maverick's scanner beeped, showing the scan as complete, and began to display data about Stitch. Maverick's breathing slowed, and his spines faded to orange. "That's it. Checkmate. You should give up now."

"Naga! I never give up!" Stitch declared, charging toward Maverick. Maverick flipped over Stitch's claws, landing behind him, and electrically charged one hand. He grabbed Stitch by the antennae with two other hands and drove the index and middle fingers of the charged hand into the back of Stitch's neck. Stitch cried out and immediately went limp.

"I told you to give up," Maverick said angrily, "but you had to tire me out and do this the hard way. My advanced scan showed the pressure points on your body. I just flooded your nervous system with static electricity, so don't expect to be going anywhere on foot for a while." He dropped Stitch, and turned to Jumba. "Now we can talk."

"YOU JERK!"

"Huh?" Maverick turned to Lilo, who was rushing toward him angrily. She pulled her fist back and punched him. Maverick simply stood there, not dodging the obvious punch coming at him. When he was struck, he cried out in pain and staggered backward. He fell over Stitch's prone form, and lay sprawled out on the ground, unconscious.

**End of Chapter**

**Yeah, you've just found out Maverick's main power... and why he wasn't really struck once, in any of his fights (in case you were wondering). But why could Lilo down him in one punch? Find out... not next chapter, but the chapter after it.**


	5. Chapter 5

**avatar: Who likes flashbacks? I LIKE FLASHBACKS! This chapter is just one massive flashback to some of Maverick's past since being turned into an Experiment. Despite this, I hope you like it.**

**Drak: Surprisingly, avatarjk137 owns every character in this chapter. However, he does not own the actual Lilo and Stitch universe.**

**avatar: I promise it's back to canon characters next chapter. I hope you enjoy anyway.**

**Chapter 5**

**The Raid/The Jaws of Death**

_"Alright, men," Drak announced, pacing back and forth in front of the kitchen table (which was also their 'war room'), "our new mission is the biggest we've had in years. We're going on a nice little raid. And we're raiding… THIS!" He grinned as he pointed to the computer screen, which was showing a massive GF ship. It seemed only lightly armed, and a large number of mirrors were orbiting it. "The Galactic Federation science vessel_ Eureka_. Plenty of supplies, usually some cutting-edge GF weaponry, and maybe some sensitive data we can hold hostage. Any questions? Yeah, Maverick."_

_"Okay, I'm new at this, but aren't science vessels a few miles long and filled with hundreds of soldiers protecting all this awesome booty you mentioned?" Maverick was clad in lightweight synthetic clothing, since he didn't really need body armor. His feet, like his crewmate's hooves, were left bare._

_"Yeah, and those two points cancel each other out. The_ Eureka _is so big, there's no chance all those soldiers will arrive together. They'll come in small groups, six at most, and we'll easily be able to deal with 'em. Remember, set the plasma to heavy stun. You won't have murder on your conscience, and the battery will last longer."_

_Jovus, the pilot, leaned in. "We're nearing the_ Eureka_. Everyone, get your weapons ready for boarding."_

_Maverick looked at Kherris. "You sure this'll work?"_

_Kherris smiled back at him. "Trust us, kid. Drak plans crazy missions all the time. He's always gotten us out of the deep water just fine." She tucked a pair of Hummer Knives, into her belt. Hummer Knives were small blades that used hyperspeed vibrations to easily cut thru almost anything. They were named for the signature noise they made when activated. "It's only a few times he's really gotten us in trouble. Unfortunately, my older brother can't resist a challenge, and he can't acknowledge that he's getting older."_

_"Let's go, people," Drak called impatiently, already nervously fingering the pair of plasma carbines he held._

_The next few moments were all a blur to Maverick. He was on the bridge of_ The Protest_, and then he was running through a hallway with Drak, Calder, Brennen, Darnun, and Kherris. The other group had gone in a different direction._

_"Enemies at three!" Calder hefted a grenade launcher in his massive arms and launched an explosive down the hallway, pressing his back to the window on his other side. "More at six!"_

_"I got 'em!" Maverick felt the familiar cooling in the air as he took in electricity, and let loose a blast at the lizardlike soldiers following them, knocking them out._

_"There's a lot of these clowns!" Calder put away his grenade launcher, and brought out a hummer sword (his personal weapon, it was essentially a hummer knife with a blade five times as long). He began waving it threateningly, causing the soldiers to give the pirates some space as they advanced, Calder bringing up the rear._

_Meanwhile, Drak had no trouble gunning down every soldier in his path. Kherris provided her sniper skills, piercing any shield the GF soldiers used against normal blasters. "There's way too many of them," Kherris muttered. "Something's not right."_

_"Here's a computer room!" Darnun and Brennen shouted in unison. They forced their way in._

_"Maverick, make sure the scientists behave nicely," Darnun ordered._

_"We'll download the ship's data," Brennen added._

_It continued this way for a moment. Maverick calmly explained to the scientists that if they didn't try any heroism, they'd be unharmed. Brennen and Darnun searched the computers for data, occasionally getting a password from the scientists. Their movements, even now, were in unison. Maverick had heard that they had been born conjoined at the head, which was why each was missing a horn. Like him and most of the rest of the crew, they'd been shunned from general Omnitaur society. Brennen and Darnun had a passion, as well as a talent, for computers, and that is what had led them away._

_Calder, Kherris, and Drak continued to stand guard outside. Calder was huge and loved fighting mano-a-mano, but he was also extremely gentle. He followed a religion completely exclusive to him due to some religious experience in the past, which explained both his presence on _The Protest_ and the dozen or so medallions he constantly wore on his body._

_Kherris and Drak had originally founded the crew. Maverick had been told that Drak had originally left Omnitaurus with his family because Kherris, his little sister and then infant, had a heart condition, and Omnitaurus's 'intentionally backward' technological state meant they had to leave to get Kherris a pacemaker. His parents had been unable to make ends meet in space, so Drak took up piracy. He found he had a natural talent at both combat and leadership and quickly rose to become a captain himself, founding an all-Omnitaurian crew._

_But what would Maverick do with himself? Sure, he enjoyed being a pirate with this crew, and it had been a once-in-a-lifetime shot at finding them. Calder would even say it was destiny, and Maverick was starting to agree with him. He had finally begun to unlock the secrets of his new ability to look into the future, and realized that the future could be changed, but only if you knew what you were changing. The future he saw took into account every variable except for himself. At any rate, it still didn't feel right. He had all this power literally at his fingertips now, and what was he doing with it? Robbing the Galactic Federation. He always believed he could turn his homeworld's government around! Maybe he should go back..._

_"Captain!" Brennen interrupted. "Come here!"_

_"We've found it!" Darnun added._

_"I'm a bit busy here," Drak yelled, blasting in both directions with his carbines. "What did you find?"_

_"The reason why this science vessel's so heavily armed," Brennen said._

_"It's because," Darnun continued, "They're testing a weapon called-"_

_---_

_"The Gargantuan Buster," the head scientist, Endrek, muttered. His gray fingers ran along the control panel. His brainchild, his life's work, his… his reason to get up every morning, the Gargantuan Buster. It was a simple concept, really: the Galactic Federation was forbidden to use many types of weapons, such as thermonuclear torpedoes, due to their sheer destructive power. However, they still needed a supreme weapon for situations such as dealing with rogue motherships and making threats it didn't plan to carry through. The Gargantuan Buster was the perfect solution, essentially a mile-long plasma blaster intensified by another mile of strategically placed energy mirrors. Endrek had come up with the idea of simply enlarging a conventional weapon to ridiculous proportions, and one Jacque von Hamsterviel had encouraged him to take it public in college._

_"Sir!" The ship's guard captain ran in. "We've been boarded by some space pirates!"_

_"Pirates?" The scientist's head cocked, and his green eyes glittered. The fleshy whiskers on his cheeks twitched as his mind raced. "Drive them back to their ship. You can do that, correct?"_

_"Yes. May I ask why?"_

_"Only because you've caught me on a good day," Endrek replied with a grin. "To tell the truth, I want to give Buster here a good test run. The Grand Councilwoman hasn't allowed me to fire at any moving targets yet, and our ship is barely armed besides the prototype, so we've really got no other choice." He smiled and steepled his long fingers together. "I can see them burning to ashes now…"_

_The captain gulped. "Yes, sir. Will you be firing it yourself?"_

_"OF COURSE!" he snapped._

_"I'll just… take my leave then…"_

_---_

_"So the whole ship's just a big cannon?" Kherris queried._

_"That seems to be the long and short of it," Brennen nodded._

_"I don't think we'll find much booty here," Darnun observed._

_"You're right," Drak sighed. "Download everything from their databanks, grab the disk, and we'll make tracks."_

_"More guards on the way!" Calder yelled._

_"Brennen, you do the download!" Drak yelled. "Darnun, you've got some proximity mines, lay them down in the hall!"_

_"Right!" Darnun and Brennen each took to their tasks. Maverick looked at Drak inquisitively._

_"Switch places with Calder," Drak said. "His arms are tired from swinging the sword, he's out of grenades, and he can't aim that Plasma Carbine to save his life."_

_"Naturally." Maverick jumped to the hall and began zapping any guards he saw, while Calder took over watching the scientists (who were still pacified) and rested his arms._

_"Alright," Brennen yelled, "I've got it all on hard drive! Emergency blackmail or something!"_

_"Perfect! I've already called in the other group and given the retreat order, so LET'S GO!" Drak turned and began to blast randomly down the hall as he led them back the way they came._

_"One last thing…" Brennen brought out a small, round device, and threw it at the computer banks. A huge wave of energy erupted from the device and shorted out all the computers._

_"Enjoy the EMP grenade," Brennen saluted to the scientists as she ran out the door._

_They continued back the way they came, Brennen and Darnun firing with their plasma pistols, Calder now rested up and swinging his hummer sword like a madman again, Maverick using his innate powers, Kherris using her pair of hummer knives (her sniper rifle was nearly out of ammo), and Drak firing his plasma carbines. The troops were coming in droves now, and they found themselves being pushed back to their ship. "This is almost too convenient," Kherris growled._

_"You've got a better idea than going to our ship?" Drak yelled._

_"Not really." Kherris's headset crackled to life. "That was the other group. They've made it back to the ship, none dead but a few wounded."_

_"Perfect! We're almost there!" Drak yelled. "And they're starting to clear out!"_

_Suddenly, an image popped into Maverick's mind. "Oh blitznack! DRAK! GET DOWN!"_

_"Say what?" Drak asked. Suddenly, they heard a distant gunshot, and a round of concentrated plasma tore a hole through Drak's chest._

_"DRAK!" Kherris yelled. Drak collapsed to the cold, metal floor, his body twitching. "Drak, speak to me!" She rushed over to him and felt his pulse. "Blitznack, this is really bad! He's bleeding heavily, and I think they got a lung!"_

_"They've got a sniper!" Maverick warned. "They'll be able to keep picking us off, we've gotta get out of here!" He sent a few bolts down the hallway where the sniper plasma round had come from, but he couldn't see far enough to tell if he got anybody._

_"Not without the captain!" Calder argued._

_"Ugh… guys…" Drak coughed. "Just go. I'm not going to survive this wound. You've got to…" he stopped and had a coughing fit, "escape while you can."_

_"You guys go," Maverick ordered. "I'm pretty plasma-proof, I can carry the captain out of here!"_

_The crew nervously looked at each other. "Alright," Brennan finally nodded. "He has a point."_

_"We've got to go. Hurry up and follow!" Darnun finished, and they ran off._

_Maverick hastily picked up Drak, but he yelled in pain. Maverick gingerly put him back down.__"Great, how can I pick you up without hurting you worse?"_

_"Maverick… I'm dying…" Drak turned to Maverick, his omnipresent grin still on his face despite the grimness of the situation. "You need to go. The crew's already losing me, they can't lose you too. You or anybody else."_

_"No…NO!" Maverick was crying now, from Drak's words and from the sounds of troops advancing down the hall toward him. "You're not going to die here, captain! I won't let you!"_

_"Maverick, it's okay. We all die sooner or later, right? Besides, I've got no regrets." He took off his eyescanner, and handed it to Maverick. "Keep that safe for me." He shuddered and suffered through another coughing fit. "Hand me my carbine, will you?" Maverick, crying silently, responded. "Go. Go to the ship, and tell them 'no regrets'. And show them the scanner." Maverick didn't move. Drak coughed again, blood seeping from his mouth. "GO!" He forced himself up to a sitting position, and pointed his carbine at the troops. "I'll hold (cough) them off!"_

_Maverick swallowed and nodded, turning and running. "Goodbye, captain!" He ran down the hall without looking back, but he could hear shouts and gunfire behind him, and he was pretty sure one of those shouts belonged to Drak. He was almost at the hangar where they'd snuck_ The Protest _in, but he was horrified to find that a dozen reptilian guards were advancing down the hall toward him. "I don't need this right now!" He saw a fuse box on the wall next to him, and he jumped up to it and rammed his fist in – a trick he'd figured out on his own a few weeks ago. "Eat this!" His other three hands sparked with the extra power he was leeching off the ship, and he produced bolt after bolt of electricity, shocking the lizard soldiers dead or unconscious, he didn't honestly care._

_"Finally!" He erupted through the door to the hangar, shocked a few nearby guards, and slid down the handrail on a set of stairs leading down towards the smaller ships docked within the_ Eureka_. Among those ships was_ The Protest_, although it was hovering and shooting at the guards. "Wait for me!" He bounded onto the head of a guard and used him as a springboard to leap to the airlock of the pirate ship. He then turned and let loose a wave of pent-up electricity, a bolt which arced from soldier to soldier. "Floor it!" Maverick yelled as he closed the airlock._

_"Flooring it," Jovus responded._

_"Maverick…" Kherris asked, although she already knew the answer, "where's the captain?"_

_Maverick stifled a sob. "I couldn't move him without killing him entirely. He told me to leave him behind, and said he'd hold off the troops." All of the pirates present lowered their heads at the sad news. The other group had all survived, although they had two wounded._

_"How could you let him get shot like that?" One of the pirates yelled. Maverick couldn't recall his name, but he had been in command of the other group._

_"Er, guys?"_

_"It was a sniper, alright?!" Kherris yelled. It was the first time Maverick had ever seen her lose her cool; just as her brother had always been smiling, Kherris had always been calm. "It was nobody's fault but his for taking on such a big mission!"_

_"Guys?"_

_"Don't talk about the captain that way!" Calder yelled._

_"I'll talk about him however I want, he was_ my _older brother!"_

_"GUYS!"_

_"What is it, Jovus?!" Maverick yelled angrily. "We're sorting things out here!"_

_"Something's happening to that science vessel, and I think it's really important!"_

_"What?" Everybody ran to the rear viewscreen. The entire front of the science vessel they had left behind was opening up, reconfiguring into a massive, squat cylinder. In addition, the mirrors that had been in orbit around the_ Eureka _were moving. They were clustering in another cylinder between_ The Protest _and the first cylinder. "What in damnation is going on?" Calder whispered._

_The answer struck Maverick like a ton of bricks. "It's the Gargantuan Buster."_

_"What in the name of my horns is a Gargantuan Bruiser?" One of the pirates from the other group asked._

_"The Gargantuan Buster is… is…" Darnun began, but faltered._

_"It's a massive plasma cannon," Brennen finished flatly. "The beam's wider than our ship, and I think we're about to be a target."_

_"They can't be serious," Kherris said incredulously. "Won't such a huge beam keep going until it smashes into a planet or star or something?"_

_Darnun shook her head. "The beam dissipates after one-tenth of a light year. It's in the data we found. But the_ Eureka _is generating a hyperspace anchor field. We can't escape via hyperspace, and we won't be able to nearly outrun the beam in time."_

_"Then take evasive action!" Maverick yelled. Jovus looked at him. "That's an order, Jovus!"_

_"You're the new guy, you can't order me around!"_

_"Do… what… he… says," Kherris growled, fixing Jovus with an icy stare._

_"Yes ma'am!"_

_But it was all for naught._ The Protest _was far enough from the_ Eureka _that the science vessel could simply rotate as it set up to follow the pirate ship's evasive action, but close enough to remain trapped in the hyperspace anchor. Soon a light began to flare, deep within the barrel of the_ Eureka_. The green flare grew steadily brighter and larger, until it was the size of _The Protest _and shining like a small sun. The mirrors all locked into place, forming a narrow cone pointing out of the barrel toward the pirate ship. The beam's power would be multiplied by the mirrors reflecting its own light and heat, creating a raging emerald inferno that would incinerate anything in its path. And the computers onboard the_ Eureka _naturally contained the most cutting-edge targeting software, so the accuracy of the beam was one-hundred percent._

_"Blitznack, it's not working!" Kherris swore. She then turned at the sound of something sealing airtight. Maverick had retracted his lower pair of arms and was putting on a suit used for repairing damage to the hull in the vacuum of space. The computer could resize the suit for him, but not add the extra arms, so Maverick had retracted his (another trick he'd picked up). He'd also subconsciously clutched the captain's eyescanner in his fist as he retracted it. "What are you doing, Mav?"_

_"I couldn't save the captain," Maverick responded, wiping his eyes and putting his helmet on. "But I'm not going to let them kill all of you!" Before the crew could object, he dove out the airlock. The suit was intuitive – he could easily figure out how to use the jump jets to navigate to the top of the bridge. "Come on, you sons of bitches, shoot me!" Maverick took a fighting pose on top of the ship, staring through his helmet's tinted visor at the frightening roar of green that was about to bear down on him in such a way as to make an oncoming freight train look subtle._

_---_

_"Buster charge at ninety-five."_

_Endrek stroked his pointed chin thoughtfully. "You." He pointed to a guard that was standing by. "Whoever you are, look at this zoomed-in viewscreen." The guard strode over and obediently studied a camera zoom of_ The Protest_. "What is that?"_

_"Well, sir," the guard responded, "It appears one of those pirates – a small one – has climbed on top of the ship to meet the beam head-on."_

_"That's what I thought," Endrek replied. "Of course, all I see is an insect; an insect, furthermore, idiotic enough to stand in front of a massive lens."_

_"I personally think it's inspiring, sir, if completely futile."_

_"If you're inspired so easily," Endrek mused, "I doubt you'll ever rise in rank."_

_"Yes… sir," the soldier snarled as he walked back to where he'd been standing._

_"Charge at one-hundred, sir. If we hold fire, we'll damage ourselves via overcharge."_

_"Then what are we waiting for?!" Endrek couldn't suppress a cackle as he twisted a switch, and pushed it in. "Gargantuan Buster… FIRE!"_

_---_

_The pain was like no pain he'd ever felt. As it approached, Maverick could already feel his suit peeling off, melting under the heat. He jumped off the ship as hard as he could to meet the beam, curling up with his arms protecting his head and his legs protecting his torso. Hoping madly that curling like this could protect him from a beam of concentrated plasma the width of two city blocks._

_The helmet, the suit, the jets, even his backpack and eyescanner were all incinerated. The massive beam began to pour itself into him, like bathwater spiraling toward a drain. Occasionally a small flare would escape towards_ The Protest_, but it was all quickly drawn back and re-absorbed. Soon he was glowing with concentrated plasma, and still it came, flooding into him like a rushing river into a thimble. He screamed, but he was in the vacuum of space, and no sound came out, only a burst of plasma which quickly flooded back into him._

_Finally, his fur began to burn, and the pale grey skin underneath began to blister. He shuddered in pure, unfiltered agony as the flesh burned away from his forearms and shins. Then came the even more excruciating feeling of the bones shattering, and the dust being blown away from his frail body. The burning continued almost to his elbows and knees, and the only coherent thought Maverick could muster was the worry that it would soon spread to his vital organs._

_Then, in the blink of an eye, it was over. Maverick's shattered body hovered over_ The Protest_, exuding nearly as much light and heat as a celestial body. Maverick managed to open an eye, staring at the_ Eureka_. They had caused him so much pain – first emotional, now physical – and he wanted nothing more than to reflect that torment back upon them. And so he did._

_---_

_"Sola, come here. Now." Endrek was sweating and breathing rapidly, and his longtime apprentice, Sola, rushed to his side._

_"What is it, sir?" Sola asked. He'd always been softer than Endrek, and had decided to move to the other side of the bridge momentarily for the destruction of the pirates._

_"Notice the energy from the Gargantuan Buster," Endrek gestured, subconsciously slipping back into lecture mode to calm himself. "It's concentrated into a single source, hovering directly over their ship. What technology, Sola, might they have onboard, allowing them to do this?"_

_Sola gulped. "There's no such technology, sir, to the best of my knowledge."_

_"Correct, Sola." The light seemed to grow brighter, larger. No, it was heading back toward the ship. "My weapon seems to have reflected back on me. Oh, dear."_

_Sola realized the impending danger of this. "EVASIVE ACTION! EMERGENCY MANUEVERS!" He screamed._

_---_

_Maverick watched, only semiconscious, as the_ Eureka _barely dodged the beam he returned to them. The beam just barely grazed their sides, scorching their hull and destroying a large percentage of the mirror array._ So there!_ he thought, as he began to black out. Between the shock to his body of suddenly losing four limbs, the intense pain of such a grievous wound, and the lack of oxygen being provided to him, it was surprising he didn't lose consciousness immediately. Finally, the sweet embrace of darkness enveloped him, taking away his pain._

**End of Chapter**

**This was originally two chapters, which is why it's so long. However, my beta recommended that they be merged, as they are so closely entwined.**

**Next chapter: Explanations.**


	6. Chapter 6

**avatar: more lateness... I'm sorry. My beta's computer crashed, so I'm flying solo for a few chapters. I declare the computer a war hero, and give it a digital purple heart for falling in the line of duty. Anyway, here's Chapter 6, as best as it could be un-beta'd.**

**Absolute: Yeah, bitch, I'm back in this chapter! Avatarjk137 doesn't own Lilo and Stitch, just Maverick, the story's contents, and I. Hey, I'm in the next chapter too, right?**

**avatar: er...**

**Absolute: Right?!**

**Chapter 6**

**Explanations**

Lilo stared at Maverick's prone form in the growing sunlight. "Jumba?"

"Yes, Little Girl?" came Jumba's blank response.

"Did I just knock out an Experiment that beat Stitch with one punch?"

"It is looking like you did." Jumba looked at Maverick, who was semiconscious, pink blood seeping from his mouth and nose. "Dormant genes from 000 were obviously being awakened from your stress long enough to grant superior Experiment strength to your punch."

"Right," Lilo said, now remembering the unpleasant experience a few months ago when Experiment 000 had been unleashed, and had transformed Lilo into a duplicate of himself in an attempt to enslave her. Luckily, he had been converted to good, providing Lilo with the antidote. The then-named Absolute flew off into space to do… whatever it is Experiments with lots of psionic powers they're still developing do, and Lilo found out that even with her human form restored, she still maintained some Experiment DNA. Lilo was effectively just as durable as Stitch, and a burst of adrenaline could summon up speed, strength, agility, and even telepathy and telekinesis.

"Lilo!" Stitch cried out from where he lay. He could speak just fine, but moving was another story, and his head was swimming. "I really wanted to do that!"

"Stitch," Lilo laughed. She walked over and picked Stitch up, pulling his arm around her back so she could carry him. She was about to ask Jumba for help, but she noticed that he was watching Maverick struggle unsteadily to his own metal feet. She instantly tensed, wondering if he would attack her.

Maverick looked at her as if seeing her for the first time, before spitting a tooth into his hand. He stared at that, too, before bursting into laughter, slightly deranged laughter that made everybody take a step back. Lilo could see in his open mouth the bloody socket where the punch – _her_ punch, she had to remind herself – had knocked the tooth out. "What is being so funny?" Jumba finally asked.

"Me!" Maverick cackled. Finally, he got himself under control, lifting his goggles so he could wipe his eyes. "I was so _stupid_. First, I just assumed _you_..." he pointed at Lilo "…were just a young Earthling. I didn't bother to do even a basic scan to back up my assumption. Second, based on my dumb assumption, I just let you hit me, because I thought I wouldn't really feel it. And now I wind up like THIS!" Maverick touched his metal finger to his empty tooth socket, and Lilo and Jumba saw something really surprising – part of Maverick's finger melted off and was left behind in the socket, and instantly formed into a new, silver tooth. "Huh?" Maverick stared at his own reflection in the back of his hand, admiring the new tooth. "When did this happen?"

"You were not aware of that just happening?" Jumba asked.

"No…" Maverick said uncertainly.

Suddenly, Stitch cried out, "You and Stitch… we're not finished yet!" He let go of Lilo and stumbled a few feet towards Maverick before falling flat on his face. Maverick looked alarmed that Stitch was moving at all, but Jumba looked concerned as he picked up Stitch's small, still partially limp body.

"Stitch, I do not want for us to be fighting 628 anymore," he instructed. He turned to Maverick. "Perhaps we can be discussing things peacefully?

Maverick's spines, which had been fading to yellow, now exploded back into brilliant red, and he crackled with energy as he yelled at Jumba, "THAT'S WHAT I WANTED IN THE FIRST PLACE! I came down here to talk to you, but you SHOT A MISSILE AT ME and SICCED YOUR CRAZY MONSTERS ON ME!"

"I was only shooting the missile!" Jumba said, as if this made him totally innocent. "Experiments were attacking you on their own!"

"And we don't like being called 'crazy monsters'," Stitch added.

"So this was all some big misunderstanding because you shot a missile at me?" Maverick asked, still fuming.

"It appears to being!" Jumba said. "So what are you wanting?"

"An apology would be nice! And then you can explain my new body to me, maybe, since you seem to be the one who knows about it!"

"Fine," Jumba said, rolling his assortment of eyes, "I am being sorry for shooting missile at you. I was being in bad mood. Now coming inside please," he gestured into the ship's hatchway, "so I can be scanning your body. So I can be explaining it to you," he added when Maverick looked suspicious.

* * *

Space. A vast, very vast, infinitely vast expanse of infinite darkness, covered in pinpricks of light and wisps of color. This particular area of space was marked with all kinds of warnings due to the extreme danger it posed to all beings: the Milky Way Galaxy's largest black hole sat at the center of this area, its massive gravity sucking up all matter and energy it grabbed a hold on. Not even the most advanced scientists in the GF knew exactly where the black hole lead to, if anywhere, or if it would just crush you until you were the size of a water molecule. It appeared to the visible eye as a circular patch on the canvas of space with no light sources.

Floating several miles in front of this black hole was a distortion, a bubble of air several meters in diameter. Very strangely, the bubble did not show the immense gravitic pull the black hole no doubt exerted, staying serene and calm. The air flowed evenly in the bubble, except for the quite solid creature that was suspended in the center of the bubble.

The silhouette of the creature suggested Stitch, but only vaguely. The torso was too broad, the creature was a bit too large, and although antennae and dorsal spines were present, an extra pair of arms was not. The creature's arms and legs floated as if it was treading water, and it was covered in fur as black as the hole in front of it. The fur became dark grey around the inner ears and eyes, and on the nose and paw pads. It was also interrupted by white lines which formed a twisting, swirling continuous pattern around the arms, legs, and torso. The creature flexed its claws and blinked its eyes, both of which glowed with the same white light.

_"Should I, or shouldn't I?"_ Absolute wondered. As he considered the immense danger zone in front of him, a flash of color flickered across his white body markings, a spray of pastels reminiscent of _aurora borealis_. He felt his power surging, as it had begun to do recently. Jumba had designed Absolute's mind, and therefore his extensive psionic abilities, to grow steadily over time, with no theoretical limit. Absolute was designed to have one hundred or more slaves he'd have to maintain mental control over by now, which should have dampened and stabilized his powers. However, after being turned to good, Absolute had cast away the idea of slaves or henchmen, and gone to wander the stars on his own. He had become quite powerful – god-like, he might even say, but he had always been told he was egocentric – and felt the need to constantly test his powers. Whenever possible, he did this in a way that would help people, like attempting to pyrokinetically and telekinetically repair a massively damaged space cruiser.

Speaking of pyrokinesis… he superheated a single atom of hydrogen in front of him until it lit up the entire bubble with a blinding glow, and launched it out of the bubble with supersonic speed. It was quickly absorbed into the black hole, and Absolute felt the rush of power subside. Using his powers in such a dramatic fashion usually did the trick. But he felt the need to truly test the limit of his powers… to truly see just how strong he'd become. And that was what brought him to the black hole.

_"Too late… I did!"_ Absolute grinned widely, showing four glowing red fangs and several dozen shining white teeth. He began to regain the aurora-like glow as he compressed the air bubble around him, and he pointed his body so that his head faced the black hole, the gargantuan force that made him seem like a tiny wisp of nothing in comparison. _"Whether I'm ready or not… HERE I COME!" _He rocketed into the black hole, his velocity erasing any possibility of self-doubt.

* * *

"Interesting," Jumba said, as he stared at the readouts.

"That's what all scientists say," Maverick snorted. "Give me some real info." Maverick was suspended in the set of rings Jumba usually used to scan Stitch, with six circular locks holding in his four hands and his feet. He was rotating around, and they could now see that his prison uniform was shredded and scorched – a night of fighting Experiments and releasing high-voltage electricity had taken its toll. Underneath, Maverick's white fur covered his body as completely as any Experiment's, and the purple horizontal stripes on his cheeks were also present on his sides, arms, and legs. Lilo and Stitch watched with interest from across the room, where Lilo had propped Stitch against the wall in a sitting position.

"Well, you are having increased senses of hearing and smell, increased speed and agility, and ability to lift roughly 2700 times your weight, according to scans. Your durability has improved, but not as far as I would be expecting. You are still being more vulnerable to physical damage than, say, 626." Jumba gestured to Stitch. "However, your energy absorption limits for electrical and plasma sources are being far above what my scanner can measure. From what I saw during fight, you can also be amplifying and releasing energy as positive or negative electrical power upon command."

"That I knew," Maverick muttered.

"You are also apparently being capable of precognizance," Jumba continued, "although I am having trouble studying that ability. One final interesting ability I was noticing was a powerful technopathy, similar to 223, but more advanced. However, it is apparently being locked in your subconscious."

"So the reason these appeared…" Maverick looked in a rush of understanding at his metallic hands and feet. "And my backpack…" he appeared to drift into deep thought, but Jumba's voice awoke him.

"Since I cannot study it, could you please be telling me a bit more about your precognizant abilities?"

"Huh? Oh, the future sight." Maverick thought for a moment. "Well, mostly I just get flashes of things that will happen. If I concentrate for a long time, I can start to see more, and I'm getting better at it. There's that one thing, though – any bodily harm that's coming at me, I can absolutely always see, and I see it about three seconds in advance. I can change anything in the future that I see, but only I can do it: I'm the only… what's the word?...variable! I'm the only variable. And, sometimes I get less warning for things that'll hurt me if they'll hit me because of the way I dodged something else. Like, if I get out of the way of a falling rock into the way of another falling rock, I might not get the full three seconds. I think that's about it, so if I can get down now…" the locks unbuckled and Maverick fell to the floor, landing on his feet a bit unsteadily.

"You were just using the technopathy now!" Jumba pointed out. "I should be only one able to be opening those restraints, and only from over here!"

"Oh, yeah… I see," Maverick responded. Jumba had explained 628's true nature to him, and he had been deep in thought since. The effect was that he had been very distracted, and the spines had faded back to yellow, starting to even take on a neon greenish tint.

"Interesting how your spines are measuring and broadcast your stress levels," Jumba noted.

"That's not all they do," Maverick said. "I figured out I could hide them in my body… you know, to conceal my emotions? But when I do that, I can't see the future. I need the spines for that." Jumba nodded and typed that up in what seemed to be a file on Experiment 628. "Jumba?" Maverick asked, a bit hesitantly. "Thanks. I'm glad I was the one to become Experiment 628." He looked around, and took a deep breath before continuing, "My life sucked before this, so… thanks."

"It is being no problem!" Jumba yelled good-naturedly, waving off the concept. "I am not being one who activated 628 on your planet, and it is mostly thanks to yourself for being most rebellious adolescent on planet!"

"Most rebellious adolescent on Omnitaurus…" Maverick laughed. "I guess I should feel honored. Hey, can you do me a favor?"

"Of course," Jumba said after noticing a look from Lilo which told him exactly what answer he should give. "I am feeling guilty toward you for missile problem earlier, so be asking away!"

"Besides," Lilo added, "you're part of the _ohana _now!"

"Ohana…" Maverick considered the word for a second. "So I'm part of the family?"

"Yup," Lilo said happily. "As long as you don't go fighting the other Experiments anymore and you apologize to the ones you fought with."

"Okay," Maverick replied, still a bit uncertain. "I'm… sorry?" He said to Stitch.

"It's okie-taka," Stitch waved off. "I've started a few fights for no good reason."

"Anyway," Maverick said to Jumba, "Do you have any clothes I can wear? I really don't like wearing torn prison clothing. Maybe something that's electricity-resistant, since I literally burn through everything else so quickly."

"I am having such materials, but not in a size that would fit you," Jumba responded. "I will be asking Pleakley later today about perhaps making clothing out of the material."

"Come on, Maverick," Lilo said, slipping out of her chair, "I'll give you a tour of the island. You can meet your new ohana, and work out your problems with the ones you fought."

"I'll come too," Stitch said. "I can feel my fingers and toes again."

"Can we get something to eat first?" Maverick asked. "I haven't eaten in a day, and I'd like to rest a bit more before I take any long walks."

"Yeah, sure," Lilo said as she led Maverick and Stitch into the morning sunlight, "I'll ask Nani to make us some breakfast."

**End of Chapter**

**Next chapter, I'll introduce Nani and Pleakley to Maverick, and it won't go well. Also, there will be a flashback... with Gantu and Reuben in it!**


	7. Chapter 7

**avatar: Alright, we've got some serious conversation this chapter, and also some flashing back with a bit of action. I'm not so sure this chapter is my best work, but the plot's moving along nicely, so I don't really see how to improve it. Don't worry, the action's taking a break, but it will kick up again soon enough.**

**Hamsterviel: Avatarjk137 does not own Lilo and Stitch. And if he keeps wasting his time with all of this ridiculous, _pathetic _fanfiction, he never will own it or anything like it!**

**avatar: It is worth noting, however, that I own Maverick, Stav, and Maverick's crew. A digital cookie for the first to spot a Hitchhiker's Guide reference in this chapter.**

**Chapter 7**

**Getting off on the Wrong Foot**

Maverick, Lilo, and Stitch sat at the breakfast table, eating cold cereal and milk. In the next room, they could hear Nani and Pleakley arguing over some situation that had arisen over improper use of dishwasher detergent. Lilo had decided to introduce Nani and Pleakley. "This is pretty good," Maverick said. Lilo looked over at him. Although Stitch was eating with his face right in the bowl, Maverick was eating with his spoon.

"Why aren't you eating like Stitch?" Lilo asked. "Most Experiments I've seen just eat like he does."

Maverick stared at Stitch for a moment, as Stitch threw the bowl into his mouth, chewing once or twice before swallowing it whole. "No idea. It seems like a good idea, though." Maverick mimicked Stitch's actions, only to sputter and cough up the now-dented empty bowl. "Man, how can you do that? This plastic tastes horrible!"

"Not to me," Stitch laughed.

"Whatever," Maverick sighed, downing the glass of orange-pineapple-banana juice he had in three gulps. "Um, do you guys have a phone I could borrow, just for a moment?"

"Yeah, it's over there," Lilo said, pointing to the nearby cordless phone on its base, hanging from the wall. As Maverick jumped down from the table and walked to the phone, Lilo asked, "Maverick?"

"Yeah?" he replied.

"Were you taller before you became an Experiment?"

"Oh yeah. Almost twice as tall as I am now, and I was the runt of the class even then."

"Does the fact that you're shorter bother you?"

The jets hidden in Maverick's feet engaged, elevating him to the level of the phone, which he grabbed. "Not at all," he said happily. "Especially since I got these jets."

"When did you get them?" Stitch asked.

"When I fought you," Maverick began, but before he could elaborate further, Nani walked into the room.

"Lilo, you weren't in bed when I called you to breakfast this morning. What were you doing?" Nani asked sternly. She had recently caught Lilo abusing her new indestructibility by having Stitch build a makeshift catapult to launch them across the island, which had angered her greatly. She had yelled at Lilo at length about what would happen if anybody saw, even Cobra. Pleakley had already been accidentally let in on the secret.

"It wasn't anything like that!" Lilo said defensively. "Jumba needed help; didn't you hear the alien invasion alarm go off?"

"Oh, yeah, that blaring Experiment," Nani said. "My ears were still ringing when I got up this morning." She thought for a second. "Wait, there was an actual alien invasion?"

Maverick spoke up, standing by the phone where Nani hadn't noticed him yet. "Well, it's a stretch to say I'm invading-"

Nani turned around in shock. "Lilo, what did I tell you about Experiments in the house?"

Lilo started to object, but Maverick beat her to it: "There are so many things wrong with your rule there."

"Excuse me?" Nani asked.

"First of all," and now Maverick was looking smug and counting off on his fingers, "what kind of racist rule is it that a certain species can't be in your house? Second, why can he-" Maverick inclined his head toward Stitch, "be an exception to this rule? And finally, I'm not an Experiment. So I really can't see why you expect me to follow such a flawed rule."

Nani took a moment to find her voice, before finally asking her sister, "Lilo, who is this?" Lilo hastily explained who Maverick was and how 628 worked to her, and Nani listened, although still locked in a stare-down with Maverick. "So let me get this straight: I have a very rebellious alien teenager in my house, gifted with Experiment powers thanks to Jumba's mad science."

"Ih," Stitch confirmed as he drank an entire pot of coffee.

Nani rolled her eyes. "I long for the days when you just brought home the regular lolo Experiments." She looked at the now-empty coffee pot. "At least I'd already had a cup. I've got to go to work now, Lilo, and for once I won't be late." She kissed Lilo and walked out the door. "And keep this new guy from destroying anything!"

"I make no promises!" Maverick called out the door after her. As he turned, Pleakley walked into the kitchen.

"Did Nani leave already? She's not late or anything-" he began, but stopped when he saw Maverick. "Lilo, Nani told you not to bring any more little monsters in the house! You know I hate so many of them!" Maverick muttered something under his breath, and Pleakley angrily yelled at him, "What did you just say to me?"

"I said," Maverick yelled back, jumping on the table to face Pleakley eye-to-eyes, "if you don't want little monsters running around, you should go get a vasectomy!"

Pleakley gasped. "Do you hear what he's saying to me?" he asked Lilo.

"Oh, I think they hear me just fine! It's you I'm worried about, you're the only one in the room who doesn't have ears!"

"OUT!" Pleakley cried. "Get out!"

"You will NOT order me around!" Maverick yelled, reaching a new height of anger, his spines casting bright red light on the entire room. "You're not my better, and I seriously doubt you're even my equal! I only ever took orders from one person, and he's dead! So if you want to get away from me, then I suggest YOU leave!" Pleakley decided to back down from an Experiment that he didn't know the capabilities of, and left the room, muttering in anger and frustration. Maverick looked down, himself muttering about bigotry and authority, and noticed the phone still in his hand. "Oh yeah, I need to call some friends." Lilo wondered briefly what he could be talking about, until she remembered that their phone could connect to anywhere in the galaxy as long as the caller knew the right number, as Pleakley had demonstrated when Jumba was kidnapped.

Stitch had obviously already figured this out, because he asked, "need the galactic phone book?"

"Nah, it's an unlisted number," Maverick said, quickly calming down. He stared at the phone, and it began to dial itself.

"Showoff," Stitch muttered.

"I don't know the number," Maverick argued. "This is the only way I know how to use a phone. I've only even known what one was for a month or so, so give me a break!" He raised the phone to his ear. "Kherris? Hey! It's Maverick!" He paused, and Lilo could hear something loud from the other end, more like a scream than a regular voice. "Yeah, I'm fine! What, arrested? No, they just wanted to send me to this weird scientist guy!" He paused again to let Kherris talk. "How are you guys doing?" Pause. "Nice!" Pause. "Where am I? This planet where most of the people don't even know about life on other planets!" Pause. "I know, it's crazy!" Pause. "No, it's this guy Jumba Jookiba and his freaking battalion of crazy Experiments! I got attacked by maybe a dozen of them!" Pause. "No, it was a misunderstanding. This guy turns out to be the reason why I have all those cool powers and don't look like an Omnitaur. He explained everything to me."

There was another pause, and Maverick said uncomfortably, "No, the Grand Councilwoman told me to stay here until this guy can come and check up on me, and I got the sense she really meant it." Pause again. "I know you aren't afraid of the old hag, but you really should lay low for a bit. I'll call you guys again when I'm able to leave." One last pause. "No, it's nice here. Tropical and stuff. Say 'hi' to Calder, the twins and the other guys for me." Another scream-like cry, and this time Lilo recognized it as cheering. "I've been on speaker the whole time, haven't I?" Maverick sighed. "Okay. Take care. Bye."

"How'd the call go?" Lilo asked.

"Fine," Maverick answered, now in a better mood than Lilo had seen him yet. His spines were glowing mint green, which Lilo guessed indicated calm.

"Were those your pirate friends?" Stitch asked. When Lilo looked questioningly at him, Stitch showed a copy of _The Galactic Herald _(A galaxy-wide newspaper Pleakley had recently decided to subscribe to, after service was extended to the Sol and Centauri systems)he'd been reading. "On page two, there's an article about an Omnitaurian group of space pirates being arrested by the GF. The captain, who was known only as 'Maverick', offered to go quietly if the others were allowed to leave in peace. They were wanted for involvement a classified incident involving GF weapon testing. And you told me during our fight that you got involved with pirates before coming to Earth."

"So what if that was me?" Maverick asked.

"Piracy…antagonizing Pleakley…" Stitch counted off. "I think we'll get along just fine," he said with a grin. "Pleakley was just in a bad mood because I put a poi balloon in the turkey he was trying to roast last night. It would've come out horrible anyway."

"You were kinda rude to Nani, though," Lilo said.

"Yeah, well, I don't always get off on the right foot with people," Maverick said.

* * *

"_Stavromula Beta," Drak announced. "This is the place."_

"_You've gotta be kiddin' me," Maverick whispered to Calder. "This place has more GF soldiers than their military headquarters. Why is Drak's favorite bar a place famous for feeding and quenching soldiers?"_

"_Hasn't it become totally obvious to you?" Calder whispered back. "Baiting the Galactic Federation is Drak's favorite hobby. Besides, Stav is an old friend." Drak walked up to Stav, a strange, humanoid creature with onyx skin, blue sunglasses, and several holes in the back of his white jacket. After some chatter between them, Drak looked over his shoulder at them, grinned, and jerked a thumb in the direction of a large table. A dozen stools had been placed around it. "C'mon, that's our table." The crew all sat around the table, to be immediately joined by Drak, and soon Stav came to them with drinks._

"_Alright," Maverick grinned as his drink was placed in front of him, but then sniffed it and frowned. "Whiteberry juice." He turned to Drak. "My first time in a real bar, and you get me a glass of stupid whiteberry juice?"_

"_You're too young to drink, kid," Drak said, and uproarious laughter erupted around the table._

"_I'm old enough to kick your ass up and down this quadrant!" Maverick yelled, standing up on his chair, his face flush with anger and his spines glowing red. Before he could say anything else, the door beeped with the entry of a new customer, in this case seven or eight new customers. A wolf-like Dactlyn, a pair of lizardlike aliens, a trio of large, whale-like creatures, and a small, yellow, furry figure, all apparently high-ranking GF soldiers, strode up to the bar section and sat down to order drinks. Maverick's eye was drawn to the poster right above their heads that spelled out the sizable reward money offered for Drak Tahn, listing him as a dangerous space pirate. "Uh, Drak, Kherris… who are those guys?"_

"_If I'm not mistaken," Kherris said, taking a long pull from her drink, "that is Captain Gantu, one of the most dangerous captains in the Federation, and his officers. He was fired a few years back, but then I heard that in the last year he'd been hired back in as the commander of the BRB. He's the really big one. I heard some weird things about the little yellow guy, too."_

"_I'd get ready for a fight, men," Drak warned, his smile not disappearing. "Any minute now, they'll realize we're here. Try to keep it to fists, I don't want Stav too angry at us."_

"_Yeah," Maverick muttered as he sat back down and drank his juice, "Whatever." He watched the tension slowly grow among the crew as one of the soldiers first eyed Drak, then noticed the poster, and finally bumped Gantu and muttered something to him._

_Gantu grinned and strode over, his huge shadow eclipsing the table. "Well, well, well, if it isn't Drak Tahn. You've been a space pirate for what, nearly fifty years now, and nobody's caught you. That's pretty shameful."_

_Drak shrugged, taking a long sip of his drink before answering. "Well, I guess I'm just a natural. I mean, I've been stealing mostly from armed GF ships and other pirates the whole time, so it's obviously just a lack of skill on your side. It's not like you've often had trouble finding us." Drak's crew chuckled._

"_Well, that's all about to change," Gantu responded coolly. "You're under arrest."_

"_You can't take him," Maverick said plainly, looking Gantu straight in the eye._

"_Excuse me?" Gantu asked, amused. "Drak, I thought you only allowed Omnitaurs into your crew as a protest against your government or some blitznak like that."_

"_I am an Omnitaur," Maverick growled._

_Gantu raised an eyebrow at Drak, who added, "It's true. He's an Omnitaur. He just has a bad haircut, is all." More chuckles from the pirates. Over the two weeks since Maverick had joined their crew, doubts of his species had been erased. It was generally agreed upon that Maverick was at least an honorary Omnitaur, despite some minor issues (for example, Omnitaurs were all naturally herbivorous, and Maverick's metabolism called for a variety of foods, including meat)._

"_Okay, so he's an Omnitaur and you're a comedian. Fine, mister funny man, stand up so I can cuff you." Gantu pulled out a blaster made large enough for his hand and leveled it at Drak, the barrel roughly the size of Drak's chest._

"_Put that away before you put somebody's eye out, I'm standing already." Drak put up his hands and stood, winking at Maverick as he did so._

_Maverick grinned and shot the blaster from Gantu's hand with a quick bolt of lightning. "What?!" Gantu yelled. He leaned down and grabbed Maverick in one huge fist, bringing him up to chin level. Maverick reminded Gantu of a certain small blue creature that beat him up repeatedly for three years running. Sharing a broken ship with a lazy, sarcastic roommate, taking orders from a psychopath, and getting beaten up by tiny creatures: he hated to recall those days. "Firing at an officer… I guess you all want to be arrested with your captain."_

"_How many years do I get if I beat you up?" Maverick asked. He shocked Gantu's hand, causing him to let go, and fell to the ground. As Gantu's crew got up in alarm, Maverick jumped up and kicked Gantu in the chest, knocking him into a nearby unoccupied table. "Well, well," Maverick laughed. "I guess Mr. Big Man here can't take a kick!"_

_Gantu growled as he got to his feet. "_Abomination_…" his men surged forward to attack, not drawing their weapons yet. "Arrest them all! You'll all get your cut of the bounty in the next paycheck!"_

_Reuben squared off with Drak, locked in a staring contest. "You might just wanna give up now, Chief," Reuben laughed. "I may not look it, but I'm really strong."_

"_Strong, eh?" Drak brought up his hoof and kicked Reuben hard in the face. Reuben didn't budge. "And tough. That's nice." Drak drew his blaster and shot Reuben._

_Reuben reached up and grabbed the small sphere of green plasma, holding the smoldering orb in his hands. "Still got the moves. Wanna just give yourself up now?" _Keep talking_, he added silently to himself, _no need to actually fight

"_You're right," Drak chuckled, his omnipresent grin only widening as he lowered his blaster, "I give. I don't have a chance against _you_."_

"_You know," Kherris interrupted from her seat at the table (she was the only person who hadn't gotten up to fight), "you really are an amazing little guy. Here, have a drink." She tossed a full bottle to Reuben._

"_Uh, that's alright, I don't drink-" Reuben began, but Drak shot the bottle in midair, causing a fiery explosion that knocked Reuben backward across the room._

"_Thanks, sis," Drak laughed. "You're always there when I need it."_

"_What can I say?" Kherris joined in her brother's laughter. "That trick works every time."_

_Meanwhile, Brennan and Darnun were dodging away from a GF officer of Gantu's race, only shorter and wider. With flawless teamwork, one would draw his blows, and the other would take advantage of any spot where he left himself open. Although he was twice their height and ten times their weight, he was definitely losing the fight. Calder squared off one-on-one with the last 'fishhead', dodging every punch and kick, and trying his best to respond with one of his own. Calder's opponent was quickly learning to take the fight seriously, as Calder jumped off his fist and punched him in the nose._

"_I'll teach you, trog!" Gantu stomped down on Maverick. He caught it with all four hands, but he felt the shock of the blow bounce painfully through his body. Gantu growled and put the majority of his weight on Maverick, but Maverick's strength held._

"_Trog? I don't see why you had to bring _racism_ into this," Maverick growled, his spines darkening to red. At the word 'racism', he tightened his grip on Gantu's foot and threw him into the nearest wall. "Besides, I thought we all agreed that I was an Omnitaurian."_

"_Don't play games with me, Experiment!" Gantu grabbed him and tossed him into the Drak Tahn wanted poster, tearing it. _This must be 628,_ he realized._

"_Experiment?" Maverick had known he could catch himself after the throw, and let Gantu throw him like a fastball. "What are you talking about?"_

"_Don't deny it!" Gantu rolled behind an overturned table, kicking one of the pirates out of the way, and grabbed his massive pistol. "You cannot hide who you really are." He fired a blast at Maverick, who caught and absorbed it._

_Maverick relished the green plasma as it flowed through his body and converted to electricity, gaining intensity as it did so. Two weeks of combat training and testing his new body's abilities had done him a lot of good, and two weeks of life aboard _The Protest_ had finally given him a sense of belonging. "I know EXACTLY who I really am!" He zapped the table Gantu was using as cover, igniting it._

_Gantu jumped up. "Men, retreat to the ship and regroup. Let them have the battle."_ I won some very interesting information for the grand councilwoman._ He stopped. "Reuben, let's go!"_

_Reuben emerged from a pinball machine in the corner, soot covering his fur. "Be right there." As he stumbled to the door, he looked at Maverick, who's four hands were still crackling with power_. Oh, I get it. Of course. What other little fluffy guys can beat down on Gantu?_ He walked out of the bar, but turned to Stav. "Put it on our tab!"_

_Drak's smile flickered. "Oh, yeah… sorry we roughed up the place, Stav. And we drove away all the customers, too… ugh, I'm so stupid! I should've taken this outside!"_

"_No worries," Stav said calmly, something akin to a Brooklyn accent coloring his voice. "It's going on the captain's tab. ALL of it." Tentacles emerged from the holes in the back of his clothing and began to straighten tables, pat out small fires, etc._

"_Still… we'll pay for more than our drinks," Drak volunteered. He slapped down some cash on the table. "Seven hundred. Come on, guys, let's go."_

"_Well, that was fun," Maverick said as Brennen led the way back to the ship. "I didn't get drunk, but I did get in a bar fight."_

"_More like the bar fight of the century," Kherris said. "It went better than I thought."_

"_Does this look broken to you?" Calder asked as he held up his hand, which was twisted at an odd angle._

"_Just use your eyescanner, man! It does X-rays!" Somebody called out._

"_Oh, thanks. Yeah, it's broken."_

**End of Chapter**

**For some reason, whiteberry juice sounds stupid to me now. But why would humans be the only species to name fruit based on its color? And if it isn't obvious, the non-italic parts of a flashback represent thoughts or emphasis.**


	8. Chapter 8

**avatar: Here's Chapter 8. No more flashbacks for a while, five or so chapters I believe. The action's moving along slowly enough. Don't worry, I've got something nice planned for when it heats up again.**

**Angel: avatarjk137 does not own Lilo and Stitch. He only owns Maverick, the H-Series Experiments, and the contents of this story. So when am I back in the story?**

**avatar: Angel won't be a major character for this fic, but I promise her triumphant return in the third and final leg of the trilogy.**

**Chapter 8**

**Anger**

Hamsterviel paced back and forth in frustration. _Where is he,_ he thought angrily. 627 was supposed to return to the base an hour ago to carry out the first step of the plan, and he still hadn't arrived. _Maybe having 627 as a partner was a bad idea, after all. He's much smarter than I'd given him credit for, and his bloodlust is unquenchable. Killing people is no more than a nervous habit to him, like nail-biting. Maybe I should've…_ his eyes drifted to the phone… _NO! I made my choice, and I'm sticking with it. After leaving Leroy behind in that prison, there's no way he'd ever partner with me again anyway_. Hamsterviel shuddered at the thought of Leroy – his sources had told him that betraying the Experiment had done permanent damage to his psyche.

"Ah, that felt good," 627 said calmly as he walked in, brushing ash and grit from his fur.

"Where were you?!" Hamsterviel cried, calculating in his head the mean things he would say to 627 regardless of his answer.

"Remember this planet's capital city?" 627 said with a sinister grin.

"Yes, I was just… what do you mean, 'remember'?" Hamsterviel asked sharply. "Never mind. You're an hour late, you fool!"

"Yeah, sorry about that," 627 apologized. "I got caught up in things-" he suddenly looked around. "Where is it? Where's my… oh yeah!" He an extended a retractable arm holding a drink. "Here's my milkshake. Anyway, we still doing the plan?"

"Yes, you boob!" Hamsterviel tossed him two Experiment pods, which he caught. "You're going to Earth, and you're going to activate H4 and H5! If you're caught on Earth by that moron Jumba's rotten Experiments, unlike me, you can beat the crud out of them! Plus, you're the one with experience handling pods over long distances, like you did with 628!"

"Yeah… about that…"

"What about that?" Hamsterviel didn't like where this was going.

"He left Omnitaurus a while ago. Rumor has it that he just got to Earth last night."

"WHAT?" Hamsterviel's fur stood on end. "You told me 628 was stuck on Omnitaurus, where you activated him! You said the chances of him leaving via the planet's one spaceport were slim!"

"It was a statistical anomaly," 627 said reassuringly. "I'm sure I can just kill him myself if he gets in the way. Besides, what are you worried about? The GF? They can pour soldiers into the cave for forty days and forty nights, and I'll never tire of killing them. The other Experiments? I can slay every single one of them in combat."

"Except 626," Hamsterviel said, making 627 growl and clench his fist.

"Shut your little rodent mouth and listen. I'll handle the tactical details once I get to Earth and release the two. They're the H-series advance force, right?"

"Yes, I've explained this to you already!" Hamsterviel was totally infuriated with 627 by now. "You did the combat programming anyway, you should know this, you boob! Now I order you to go down to Earth and RAIN HAVOC DOWN UPON THEM!" 627 had stopped drinking his milkshake partway through Hamsterviel's last rant, and was now standing there, twitching and dropping his shake. "Well?" Hamsterviel yelled.

"What did you just say?" 627 asked quietly.

"I told you to go to Earth and rain havoc down," Hamsterviel said, "right?"

"No… you ORDERED me to go to Earth and rain havoc down," 627 snarled. "What did I say about _ordering me around_?" Hamsterviel paled, but before he could do anything, 627 was right in front of him, holding him up by the capital 'H' that pinned his cape on. "You don't order me around," 627 said calmly, snowflakes falling from his exhalation, which had become ice-cold. "We are partnered as equals, and you are not my superior. We have established this, no?"

"Sorry, sorry!" Hamsterviel cried. "It was a momentary slip-up, it will not happen again! Please let go of me!" 627 acquiesced, and Hamsterviel staggered back. "You… you're insane!"

"I get that a lot," 627 said pleasantly, "But I imagine you do too. I'm leaving for Earth." 627 walked away from the now-verbal-abuse-spouting little villain, and into the parking lot where he kept his battered 'collection' of vehicles. He walked over to the single undamaged one, a small, sporty cruiser built for speed and looks. It was capable of holding a spacefaring party of thirty, and had a very sexy black paint job with red racing stripes and a bullseye on the back. 627 had added an array of hidden weapons and special features in the three weeks since he'd stolen it, some of which Hamsterviel knew about, and he had also slapped on his lovely new bumper sticker. But his favorite feature was the reason he'd stolen it: the vehicle could cloak itself from both the naked eye and radar, and had a new stealth hyperspace drive that made his hyperspace jumps untrackable.

627 opened the hatch on the bottom of the ship, climbed in, and quickly closed it behind him. He sat down in the spacious cockpit, and in no time at all he was en route to Earth. He planned on doing everything Hamsterviel wanted him to do, and much more. As he left the planet's ionosphere, he pressed a button hidden under what looked like a third jumbo cupholder, and spoke, "Initiate Project Massacre." The beverage holding device instantly unfolded into a far more advanced piece of technology. He placed the pods for H4 and H5 into two corresponding slots in the machine, and multiple lasers immediately began to crisscross them. "Initiate behavior reprogramming," he commanded, his rasping voice easily recognizable by the computer.

"Attention, Experiments H4 and H5. Hamsterviel is no longer your true master. If he asks, soothe his doubts, tell him he is. However, I, Experiment 627, am your new master. In addition, you will now respond to names as well as numbers. H4 will now respond to name 'Sword', and H5 will now respond to name 'Shield'. H4, when you are activated, you will seek out targets Lilo and Stitch, and keep them occupied until H5's activation. You will NOT engage them in combat, nor will you discuss yourself when it can be avoided reasonably. When H5 activates, you will seek him out, and join him in wreaking havoc. H5, when you activate, you will destroy all property in sight. If Targets Lilo, Stitch, Nani, Pleakley, or Jumba come into contact with either of you at this point, or if you are attacked by anybody else, you are free to engage. Use any amount of force desired. Do not engage an Experiment 628, if found. I will take care of this target myself. Remain open to further instruction. That is all."

* * *

"Yeah, um, I'm sorry. The whole thing was a misunderstanding. I was already pissed off, and I acted rashly. Sorry," Maverick finished.

Slushy sighed. "It's no problem. I hear Kixx kinda acted like an idiot, too, but I saw you beat him up, so I just attacked the guy I saw hurting my cousin."

"Okay, thanks." Maverick turned to Lilo. "Alright, that's everybody I got in a fight with." Luckily, Maverick had only been trying to incapacitate the Experiments he fought with, and none had been seriously hurt.

"Okay," Lilo responded brightly. "3 snow-cones, please, Slushy."

"Gladly, Lilo," Slushy said, pulling out three conical paper cups. A moment later, Maverick, Lilo, and Stitch sat on a wooden bench, eating their snow-cones.

"I can't believe I don't even need to disguise myself," Maverick said. "All I'm doing is hiding my extra arms. I thought you said nobody here knows about the existence of aliens."

"They don't," Stitch replied. "Over six hundred unique creatures unlike anything found on Earth reside on this island, and a few more elsewhere on the planet. Nobody realizes they're aliens. Everybody thinks they're just funny-looking animals with weird talents."

"You've got to be kidding me!"

"Nope," Lilo said. "The funny thing about humans is that we always think the flimsiest 'normal' explanation makes more sense than a much better explanation involving something that we haven't proven to exist yet, like magic or, well, aliens."

"Humans are a funny species, I guess," Maverick said with a shrug. He took a bite of his snow cone. "This is good."

"Yeah, Slushy's a really…" Lilo stopped in mid-sentence when she saw who was coming. "Oh, great. Mertle and her lackeys."

"Who're they?" Maverick asked, subconsciously pressing a button on his eyescanner as he saw the group of girls rollerblading down the sidewalk.

"Just some _nala queestas_," Stitch said. "They're in on the whole alien thing, though."

"Hmm…" Maverick said. He went back to his snow cone and began concentrating on it as Mertle stopped next to Lilo, signaling her posse to stop as well.

"Hey, weirdlo," Mertle began. Mertle had been staying out of Lilo's way since Absolute's attack, when Lilo had accidentally telepathically attacked her. However, recently Mertle had regained her confidence and was antagonizing Lilo almost daily again. "A new freak alien friend? What does this one do? Make you even weirder?" She turned to Maverick. "So what do you do, freak?"

Maverick eyed her for only a second. "Go away."

"You can't talk to me like that!"

"Sure I can. You're talking to me that way." Maverick went back to his snow cone.

"This one's pretty rude, Weirdlo," Mertle said. "What are you doing? Teaching them how to not make friends?"

"Mertle, please just go away," Lilo begged.

"Well, I was going to ask if you were going to that huge concert tomorrow like we are," Mertle shrugged. "But I forgot they don't allow freaks in."

"That's alright," Lilo said. "I like classic rock better than boy bands anyway."

"It's not just boy bands!" Mertle countered. "It's going to be all kinds of music! Practically the whole island's going!"

_That's right,_ Lilo thought. _It's going to be a ghost town except at the stadium tomorrow. _"That's alright," she said. "It's still not going to be my favorite music, anyway."

"You're still an Elvis fangirl? Get _over _it, Weirdlo, the King is dead."

_"I didn't know Earth had a king,"_ Maverick whispered to Stitch.

_"The King was the nickname of Elvis, Lilo's favorite musician,"_ Stitch whispered back.

"I don't need you pushing your mainstream musical tastes on me, Mertle."

"Yeah. A dose of normal would probably knock your sandals off!" Mertle continued.

"_Yyeeeaahh!_"

"Hey, didn't I tell you to step off?" Maverick asked Mertle loudly.

"Why don't you step off, freak, I was talking to Weirdlo!"

"From where I'm sitting, you were insulting Lilo over and over. What the hell did she ever do to you?" Mertle started to respond angrily, but Maverick cut her off, hopping down from the bench and crumpling his snow cone. "How about this. You all get out of my sight as fast as you can, and I won't eviscerate you."

"This isn't over, Weirdlo. I should call the authorities on your new freak!" Mertle called over her shoulder as she left, behind Yuki, Elena, and Theresa for once.

"There is no authority that I respond to!" Maverick called after her.

"That went about as well as I expected," Lilo said.

"That girl's a little horror," Maverick mumbled.

"She's not worth an act of violence," Stitch mumbled. "That was fun to watch, though."

"Come on," Lilo said. "Let's go home and figure out something fun to do while the whole town's at the concert."

**End of Chapter**

**Next chapter, the stage finishes setting for the next big action sequence and the wheels begin to turn.**


	9. Chapter 9

**avatar: welcome back! I'm finally back to normal schedule with this fic, and everything is on track again. This chapter's got some character development for Maverick, some plot development and foreshadowing, and we're checking in on an old friend.**

**Drak: avatarjk137 does not own Lilo and Stitch. He does own Maverick, the H-series Experiments, and the contents of this story. He also owns me: I'm the first important OC he's had who was DOI - Dead On Introduction.**

**Chapter 9**

**Future Impending**

"You wanna come?" Lilo asked Maverick.

"What are you doing again?" he replied.

"We're basically just going to hang around the island, and enjoy being indestructible since nobody is around," Stitch said. "I might drop by and see my girlfriend Angel later where she works."

"Oh, diving off roofs because everybody's at the concert. Nah, I'll pass." He paused. "Why are you really not going to the concert?"

"Tickets were sold out," Lilo responded. "No big loss. I really do prefer the oldies."

"Oldies means old music, right?"

"Right. So, you don't wanna come?"

"No, I need some alone time." Maverick was dressed in the clothing Pleakley had grudgingly made for him. It was a simple jumpsuit made of a deep green material Jumba had on hand that wouldn't be damaged by extreme voltage. It also had four armholes, so that he could extend and retract his extra arms without tearing it. Pleakley's resentment had prevented him from adding anything, which was probably a win-win situation. "I also have a few more things to talk to Jumba about. Maybe I'll come along tomorrow."

"How long are you going to be on Earth?"

"Another few days, at least until I talk to that Cobra Bubbles guy. What's he like?"

"Intimidating," Lilo said as she finished her breakfast. Nani walked into the kitchen. "You're late, Nani," Lilo mentioned. "Why aren't you in a hurry?"

"I'm off until the afternoon," Nani explained. "Then I'm only going in to inventory the items. We're not even opening until after the concert because everybody's going to be there, and I'm not on the evenings right now. Most of the tourist industry is off the late morning and afternoon today."

"Okay. What are you going to do, then?"

"Catch up on my relaxing around the island," Nani said with a grin.

"Same here," Lilo said. "Stitch and I are going to hang out outside a while."

"And you?" Nani asked Maverick, her smile gone.

"I'll be on Jumba's ship," Maverick said simply, leaving out the door.

"I'm going to be honest with you, Lilo, I don't like him," Nani said.

"He says most adults don't."

"I imagine not. Mostly, I don't think he's a very good role model for you."

"Neither do I, but he's pretty fun to be around," Stitch said.

"He's just having trouble adjusting, Nani," Lilo reassured her older sister. "He's had a bunch of changes to go through in the last two months."

"If you say so."

* * *

"Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!" The chant was as infectious as the common cold and slightly less pleasant, shouted in a half-dozen different languages by two dozen coarse, harsh, cruel voices. This was a common occurrence during the group showers in the triple-max security GF prison asteroid, and the guards had become rather lax about breaking up the fights. They would get to it in the next few minutes. Besides, these things had a way of… working themselves out. If an inmate died, it was only a statistic. 

Both of the current brawlers were serial killers infamous on their own planets or star systems, both had yet to significantly injure each other, and both had nothing to lose. One was a large mantoid creature nearly twelve feet tall, and probably even taller if it fully extended its four long legs and two spindly arms. A few fresh scratches on its shiny obsidian carapace were the only injuries so far. The other fighter, an eight-foot tall gruff creature seemingly sculpted from green crystal, growled as he held a massive hand over one of his glowing red eyes, which his opponent had spat in. "I hope your brain insurance is all paid up," he growled, "because you'll finish your term drooling in the infirmary!"

"Enough," a voice said quietly but clearly in Turian. Both fighters look down to see the poor fool who had stepped between them. A small, crimson-furred creature glared up at them, sporting tall, ragged-edged ears, bent antennae, four arms with paws clenched into fists, light red fur on his chest, eye sockets, and inner ears, and what was obviously a fresh bleeding wound on his forehead covered by a bandanna made from his uniform sleeve.

"What?" The crystalline inmate sneered. "We disturb your suicide attempt, punk? You've broken up a couple-a shower fights lately, and the fighters let you because your Experiment reputation intimidates them. We're different. You wanna get involved, fine, but we aren't stopping on account of you."

"You will stop," Leroy repeated. "You will stop now. You can't hurt me, so don't try."

"Why I oughtta-" Big, Green and Crystallized began, but he never finished. Leroy looked up and locked eyes with him, and the prisoner was paralyzed by Leroy's eyes. The solid black orbs concealed a maelstrom of hate, rage, sorrow, and bitterness just below their surface, and the inmate was momentarily stunned by the weight of the sort of sheer emotional volume that led to a true genocide.

The mantoid, however, did not see Leroy's eyes, and did not receive a final warning to stop. It whistled something that loosely translated to "I never could follow directions," and punched Leroy in the head with a brick-sized fist mounted on a nine-foot arm. Leroy didn't flinch, but the creature's carapace split open up its forearm, causing the mantis to screech and jump back.

"Why are you fools fighting?" Leroy asked, with the air of asking for the score in a ball game currently on TV, and giving no indication that he had noticed the punch.

More hissing and whistling from the mantis more or less meant "He insulted the memory of my mother!"

"You started it by insulting my pride and my dignity!" the crystalline brute replied.

Leroy spat on the ground. "WHO CARES?! Does your pride make your stay here any more comfortable? Does it make the food taste better? The cots softer?" His voice was soft and mocking now. "Or maybe your dignity can dig us a tunnel to freedom, while the memory of your mother sings and dances to distract the guards?"

"I should mount your head on my cell wall!" the crystal inmate yelled. The mantis buzzed its agreement.

"Don't get me wrong," Leroy warned, "I love violence as much as the next prisoner here, and I'll shred you like wet paper to defend myself. But I'm not going to let anybody kill each other like you two are doing. It sickens me to watch you all fight… when you have nothing worth fighting for." He walked over to a showerhead, and let the icy water stream down onto his head, removing the bandanna as he did so.

Underneath, pink blood poured freely down into his face as the water washed out the new wounds. The deep slashes across his forehead could've only been inflicted by Leroy's own claws; nothing else he could access in the compound would've pierced his skin. Leroy left the stream of frigid water and checked his reflection in the mirrored wall of the shower room. He inspected the wounds long and hard, until the buzzer sounded that marked the shower period as over. Only then did he leave, satisfied that the scars that would form on his sanguine forehead spelt out _VAKIKUTA_, the English translation for which was 'ONLYONE'.

* * *

627 pulled out of the dive and surveyed the beauty of the Hawaiian islands from his cloaked aerial vantage point. "Who says you can't go home?" he sneered. He dipped the ship until Kokaua Town filled his view, and watched the whole town moving toward the stadium. "Looks like there won't be too many people around. Nobody to kill, but then again, it'll be nice and quiet." He opened the airlock and leaned out into the clear, warm air. He then grabbed the H4 pod and dropped it into a small stream he saw below. He threw the H5 pod in a different direction, toward the Pelekai household. "A present for the folks." Finally, the evil Experiment touched his cloaked ship down on a supermarket rooftop. "A perfect parking job. Today must be my lucky day." 

627 walked onto the roof and enjoyed the fresh air. He noticed a large, fat, sunburned tourist with an ice cream cone. "Well, it is pretty hot out." He blinked, and disappeared from view. Seconds later, the ice cream cone vanished from the man's hand as he was about to take the first bite, and he stared at his empty hand in confusion. 627 reappeared on the rooftop with the ice cream cone and ate the ice cream and the cone in one bite. "Much better." He then walked into his ship's cargo hold to grab a 'toy'.

* * *

Maverick walked into Jumba's lab, and looked around. The room was filled with bubbling beakers, half-finished small machinery, and gleaming chrome. There had to be more technology in the room than anywhere else he had ever been, and he had to stop to admire it. When he closed his eyes, he could feel the sheer… newness. He didn't know a better word, it was as if the whole room simply radiated a vague sense of being cutting-edge. He noticed a large figure poring over something, and whistled, causing Jumba to look up from the blueprints he was absorbed in. "Hey Jumba, do you have a quiet room I can go to think in?" 

"Yes 628, one of the ship's rooms is still designed to being normal Earth inn room. It is being thru second door on my right. As an evil genius, I am always being glad to see people thinking." Maverick nodded, already on his way, and walked into the room. It was a passable imitation of an actual Earth bed-and-breakfast bedroom; the walls and ceiling were still chrome, and there was a control panel poorly hidden by a picture frame containing what was apparently an unused sheet of canvas. Also, the emergency sprinklers on the ceiling were actually a laser security system, but that was less than obvious to the untrained eye.

Maverick sat down and closed his eyes, breathing deeply and evenly. This had only begun to work recently, mostly when he was trying to sleep, but he could meditate to see a more in-depth glance of his future, as opposed to the flashes he usually saw. The tips of his spines changed in color from yellow to green, finally moving to a soft sky blue. He opened his eyes, and the room appeared dark to him. A luminescent white line extended from the floor directly in front of him forward, but it soon forked in two. Each of the new lines soon forked, and this continued until a treelike image lay on the dark ground in front of him. It was filled with different ends, due to each line having many forks, and some three-pronged forks littered the tree as well.

He concentrated on one particular ending, and saw himself reflected in it. And yet, it was not himself… at least, not yet. He saw himself as an accomplished pirate captain, a virtuous rebel who fought an evil regime that had replaced the Galactic Federation. He was battle-scarred and much, much older, but he still had some fight left in his eyes. But this wasn't the only way he saw himself.

He turned to another path ending, and saw himself as a king. But not as a kind king; he was a cruel tyrant, strange black lines crossing his fur in a grid, ruling his home planet with four iron fists. Then he saw another, nearby ending, and he was still king, but a wise and benevolent one who led his people into Omnitaurus's greatest golden age ever. He would eventually step down to let another rule, but the people would remember his rule forever.

He turned to still more endings. He saw himself as a scourge of the galaxy, a heartless killing machine both literally and figuratively: nearly all of his body was replaced by mechanical parts. He saw himself as an avenger, fighting across eternity to stop a single shadowy figure; they even continued their battles eons after their rivalry had started, eons after everything they originally fought over was gone. He saw himself as a forgotten, broken old hermit, defeated and hopeless. And he saw many, many paths that led to nothing but an early grave.

Maverick saw all these possible fates for himself, and he was horrified. He was horrified that he could cause so much good or so much evil. He was horrified that simple heat-of-the-moment choices were all that separated these massively different fates. And most of all, he was horrified that he couldn't see what decisions led where. He could see the ends, but not the means.

Maverick was suddenly snapped out of his meditation by the sound of a phone ringing. The darkness, the white lines, the visions of his many possible fates, all melted away in an instant. He was back in the guest room, and a phone was ringing in the other room. He heard Jumba get off his chair with a groan and walk over to the phone. "This is being lab of Dr. Jumba Jookiba. Ah, Little Girl, hello…What? I have never been hearing of such a thing!"

* * *

"Whee!" Lilo jumped off the cliff, plunging twenty feet and slamming into the dirt below. Lilo was indestructible now, thanks to Absolute, and whether Nani wanted her to or not, she was going to enjoy it. She got up from what would have been a nasty, limb-breaking fall, and dusted herself off. "Your turn, Stitch!" 

"Yeeehahaaha!" Stitch did a triple backflip and landed smoothly on one hand, launching himself off of it with another backflip to a standing position. "How was that?"

"You're such a showoff," Lilo said with a shake of her head. "So, want to go see Angel?"

"Actually," Stitch said, "I just remembered that she was going to be at the concert, representing the local talent."

"Oh, okay then," Lilo said. "What should we do next, then?" Before Stitch could answer, Lilo's watch lit up. Jumba had given the watch to Lilo for her ninth birthday; it had a portable Experiment tracker in it. Unfortunately, by the time he had completed it, only a dozen or so Experiments had been left unactivated, so that feature had been largely useless. It was still an excellent digital watch, and it also functioned as a camera, flashlight and cell phone. "What?" Lilo exclaimed. "New Experiment activated?"

"**Warning,**" the watch said in a smooth computerized female voice, "**Experiment H4 activated. Primary Function: Unknown. Uploading data… please wait**"

"Experiment H4?" Lilo echoed. "Have you ever heard of H4, Stitch?"

"Naga."

"I'm calling Jumba." She opened up the cell phone and called Jumba's lab.

After a few seconds, the familiarly accented voice picked up. "This is being lab of Dr. Jumba Jookiba."

"Jumba, it's Lilo."

"Ah, hello, Little Girl."

"Jumba, the watch just told me Experiment H4 activated."

"What? I have never been hearing of such a thing!"

"So you didn't make an H4?"

"No. I am crossing my heart and wishing to expire."

"Then who do you think… of course," Stitch said. "What evil genius would sign all of his creations with his own initial?"

"Hamsterviel," Lilo said grimly. "We'll go find this H4, Jumba."

"Please to be proceeding with much caution," Jumba warned. "Thinking of fake evil genius Hamsterviel is not thinking like evil genius Jumba. Experiment will be differing significantly from my own, and we are not knowing how."

**End of Chapter**

**Leroy wasn't originally supposed to be in Rebel Without A Cause until the conclusion, probably the last chapter. However, just this week I decided to grant him this scene and another extra scene later in the fic. The reasons why he's acting so oddly will become clearer over time, unless my writing sucks too much for you to figure it out. On a side note, the crystalline inmate is basically one of the aliens from Ben 10. The mantis inmate is off the top of my head.**

**Next Chapter: We meet H4 and H5. I wish I had a more dynamic way of saying that...**


	10. Chapter 10

**avatar: Not too long a chapter, I know, but I'm setting up for the action - WHICH IS FINALLY STARTING AGAIN NEXT CHAPTER! WOO! Let's celebrate!**

**Reuben: (pops a champagne cork and brings out a plate of sandwiches) Don't count me out of a celebration! Avatarjk137 doesn't own Lilo and Stitch. He only owns Maverick, the H-series Experiments, and the contents of this story.**

**avatar: I'd better kick it back into gear with writing this fic! I've only written to the end of Chapter 11!**

**Chapter 10**

**Sword and Shield**

"So, are we getting close?" Stitch asked. Besides detecting the Experiments, Lilo's watch could also point the direction they were in and give an estimate of their distance to the nearest ten meters.

"It says zero meters," Lilo says. "Less than five meters from us… we must be right on top of it!"

Stitch's ears twitched. "Or right under it." He looked nearly straight up, and made out a figure staring right at them with luminous yellow eyes, using the trees as camoflauge. "Hi," he said.

"Oh… hi," the Experiment replied. Stitch blinked into his infrared vision. The Experiment was taller than him, on the thin side, and in a tense position that belied his relaxed voice. "You must be Lilo and Stitch," the Experiment replied, shocking Stitch.

"How did you know?" Lilo asked.

"I was programmed with knowledge of you two," the Experiment replied.

"Are you H4?"

"Yeah, but you can call me Sword. That's my name."

_Well, now we know it's not Jumba's_, Lilo thought. _He doesn't program Experiments to name themselves._

"You going to come down?" Stitch asked.

"In a minute," Sword replied. "I can scan the area for humans to form a disguise, but it takes a while. I'm almost done."

"That's what you do? You can shapeshift to look like another species?" Stitch asked.

"That's one thing I can do," Sword replied casually. "Finished." He jumped to the ground as he transformed, so that they never got a good look at his Experiment form. The human form that greeted them was that of a Caucasian teenage male, maybe fifteen. He was tall and very thin, and wore a green long-sleeved T-shirt, blue jeans, a blue denim vest, and combat boots. His long silver hair was tied back in a ponytail, and a stylized silver dragon's head was on the T-shirt, half-hidden by the open vest. He had a pointed chin, and a pair of symmetrical scars rose from the corners of his mouth up his face and around to the outer edge of his eye sockets. "How's the disguise?"

"The scars on your face a little funny-looking," Lilo said. "You probably don't need a disguise around here anyway."

"I prefer the disguise," Sword replied, "And I can't help the scars. A few distinctive features always show through the disguise."

"The clothes also look a little hot for Hawaiian summer."

"I'll be fine," Sword said reassuringly.

"So," Stitch said. "We were wondering who created you."

Sword looked thoughtful. "It's not that I don't want to tell you about myself, it's just that I don't know anything about you guys other than the physical description I was programmed with. How about you guys tell me about yourselves first?"

Lilo and Stitch looked at each other and shrugged. "Okay," Stitch said. "I guess that would be fine."

Sword grinned. With his thin face and scars, the effect was a bit unnerving. "Excellent. I'm all ears."

"Well, I'm Lilo Pelekai, and I live here in Kokaua Town on Kaui, Hawaii. I'm ten years old, and…"

* * *

Nani drove slowly along the streets of her hometown, enjoying the familiar sights. It was so surreal, the town completely deserted with nobody at the shops, nobody at the restaurants, nobody else on the road. Even Ms. Hasagawa had closed up shop. Nani was going to enjoy the morning surfing with David, but for once she was early. _I guess I could break my habit of lateness after all, _she thought happily. As Nani pulled to a stop at a Stop sign, a pod marked H5 embedded in her radiator grille suddenly popped out with the force of the Jeep's deceleration. The pod fell to the ground in front of the car and rolled slightly to the side. Nani, satisfied that the road was clear, moved on, and the pod was caught under her tire. The pressure caused the pod to pop out of from under the tire like a champagne cork, and it bounced into a sewer grate, creating a faint flash from the grate. 

A moment later, Nani was gone, no longer there to witness the chain of events she had unknowingly set into motion. The manhole cover in the center of the street began to vibrate. It continued to vibrate for several seconds before exploding straight into the air with a resounding _BANG._ A large, sopping wet Experiment crawled up through the hole and rolled clear before the manhole cover fell back down into the exact position it had been in, only upside-down. The Experiment looked at the circular sheet of iron and laughed.

The creature was built like a brick wall: very solid, and with a torso as nearly as wide as it was tall. It had a wide face filled with short, needle-like teeth, and glowing yellow eyes. Short, bear-like ears were situated below a large, V-shaped silver plate that covered the top of its head, the front coming to a point just above its nose. The plate had a short, purple horn that curved back like a small rhino horn. A nearly identical row of plates continued back down its spine, covering the center of its back and its long, flat, thick tail. Each plate was shaped the same, with a horn the same shape and size. The tail even ended in a V, with the 'tines' facing out.

It had grayish fur, lighter around the eyes and inner ears, which was studded all over with smaller silver plates. Its arms were long and muscular, and each forearm was entirely covered with a large, circular shield dotted with a long silver spike of the same purple substance as the horns running down its spine. Its stubby, clawed fingers barely poked out from the edge of each shield. The legs were short and strong, and the tail forced the creature to slump forward in an almost ape-like posture. However, the shielded arms were kept clear of the ground.

"I suppose this is the place," the Experiment said in a low, brutal voice that distinctly marked him as male. He chuckled. "Time to get crackin'." He walked over to a parked car, a dirty blue VW bug, and placed his shielded arms under it. With a loud grunt, he lifted it over his head, and began to spin it a bit before throwing it into a shop window. He noticed a fire hydrant near him, and demolished it with a swipe of his tail. "At this rate, this could take all week, even after Sword arrives. Guess I'll have to destroy faster."

The silver beast swung his tail up under his legs, and the 'V' of the tail plate connected with the point of his head plate. He tucked in his legs, then his arms. The end result was that he had curled up much like Stitch; however, Stitch formed a ball when he curled up, and this H5 had achieved a form more reminiscent of a truck tire. He suddenly rolled at a high speed toward the rear of another car. He was rolling in the opposite direction that he had been facing, so the curved horns dug into the ground and granted additional traction. He shot up the trunk and rear windshield of the car and rocketed off the hood at an angle, smashing into a sign proclaiming authentic Italian cuisine. His speed and the horns covering his body ensured heavy damage to everything he touched. Both H5 and the wreckage of the sign fell to the ground in a pile.

"Ah, that was fun!" H5 burst from the pile, unharmed, and curled back into a wheel before rolling down the street, crushing a café table on the way.

**End of Chapter**

**Next Chapter: Knocked Down. I'm cutting one of our heroes open. I'll leave you with that thought.**


	11. Chapter 11

**avatar: Woo! The action has landed! This is the chapter that had the scene preview in it, so you'll recognize part of the chapter already. You may want to reread it anyway, now that you have context.**

**Morpolomew (as George Washington): I cannot tell a lie. avatarjk137 does not own Lilo and Stitch. He only owns the H-series Experiments, and Maverick. And the contents of this story.**

**avatar: Washington, Washington.**

**Chapter 11**

**Knocked Down**

"And that's about it. Leroy's still locked up, but Hamsterviel and 627 are still on the loose," Lilo finished explaining.

"Do you think you can stop them?" Sword asked. "Non-threatening as you make Hamsterviel out to be, he can't be a total incompetent if he can escape so often, and 627 _was_ designed to be the strongest… to be unbeatable."

"No, I don't think we can stop them," Lilo said, looking away. Sword was surprised, but Lilo looked back at him with determination in her eyes. "I _know _we can."

"Good answer. You both have the hearts of warriors."

"Speaking of Hamsterviel," Stitch cut in, "did he design you? I mean, we told you our story, so it's only right you tell us yours."

"You're absolutely right. It's the polite thing to do. Yes, I was created by Hamsterviel," Sword began uncomfortably, but was cut off by a beeping from Lilo's watch.

"**Warning: Experiment H5 activated. Primary Function: Unknown. Uploading data…**"

"H5?" Lilo said.

"Ahh, my brother is out!" Sword grinned. "The time for politeness and stalling is over, my friends. The time for the mission has _begun!_"

"Stalling…" Lilo said, realization dominating her face. But before she could react, Sword's form began to shift and shrink, down from a tall, thin teenager to a tall, thin Experiment. Sword was now a head taller than Stitch, but no broader. His fur was grey, but interrupted by silver plates all over his body, enough to protect much of him from light attacks, but still not enough to hinder movement. Unlike most Experiments, not even a small tail was visible on him. He had glowing yellow eyes, a flat face, small, erect ears, and a long, thin pair of antennae with no knobs on the end. The 'scars' that had shown on his human face were actually the borders of a pair of armor plates, one over each cheek.

However, the most striking feature on Sword's body had to be the array of blades. A pair of short, silver knife-like blades extended from the back of his ankles, and was folded against his calves. A longer pair of blades resembling short swords grew from the outside of his wrists, folded back against his forearms and elbows. The largest blades on his body, however, were scythe-like and grew from his shoulder blades. They rested on his back folded like wings.

"Ah, my brother's this way!" Sword snapped his right arm forward, and the blade swung forward, now pointing forward parallel to his forearm. "Time to go!" He turned to a brick wall they had been walking along the side of, and made a few quick slashes, cutting a roughly rectangular piece from the wall. Sword kicked out the piece and jumped through the new hole, leaving Stitch and Lilo staring at his retreat. "Be seeing you!"

"Stitch, we can't just let him leave!" Lilo yelled as she jumped through the hole.

"Right!" Stitch took off after Sword. _That jerk played us both for fools…_

"Be careful!" Lilo yelled. Although she was running as fast as she could, until her powers kicked in, there was no way Lilo could keep up with Stitch and Sword, who were leaping away thru the trees. She checked her watch as she ran; they were definitely going in the direction of H5. Also, she noticed data had been successfully uploaded about H4 – Sword. She pressed the button for description.

"**Experiment H4. Primary function: Perfect Offense. Secondary Functions: Scouting, Tiamat Formation.**" It now showed a picture of Sword in his Experiment form as a distant yell rent the air.

_Perfect Offense? Secondary Functions? Tiamat Formation?_ Lilo's head was awhirl with questions. Suddenly, all those questions vanished when Lilo saw Stitch's bloody, prone figure in front of her.

* * *

"Get back here!" Stitch yelled as he leapt after Sword. 

Sword spared a glance over his shoulder before jumping from the tree he was perched in and running down a picket fence. "Now why would I do that? If you want to face me, Stitch, you'll have to catch me first."

"Done," Stitch growled. Sword was agile, and his balance was excellent, but he wasn't quite as good as Stitch. After another half-minute of leaping from fences to rocks to trees to whatever else they passed by in the Hawaiian suburb, Stitch was practically breathing down Sword's neck. "I have you now!"

"Think so?" Sword's eyes gleamed maliciously, and he turned in midair on his next jump, bringing his blade out as he did so. Stitch was caught completely off-guard by the attack, but as the blade slashed toward his chest, he thought, _good thing I'm so durable._ As that thought passed through his head, the blade flashed silver and bit into Stitch's skin. Stitch was more surprised than any other emotion when the blade passed through his abdomen as if he were made of water, spraying pink blood in a long line off to his side.

Sword landed gracefully on his feet, despite facing backwards. Stitch, on the other hand, rolled in the dirt and came to a stop face-up on his back. Then he immediately screamed toward the sky as the pain hit him. Horrible, sizzling agony flashed outward from the wound across his body. Sword stared down emotionlessly at Stitch's writing form. "So sad. I was looking for more of a challenge than a fool who lets himself be surprised enough to receive a mortal wound right off the bat. I was only using one blade! The great 626?" He laughed sarcastically, but still remained expressionless. "Hardly." Sword casually cleaned his blade on the fur on Stitch's forehead (apparently careful not to cut him again), and jumped off.

Stitch lay there, groaning in pain for what seemed like an eternity before hearing Lilo cry out and rush to his side. "Stitch, what happened? You're cut so badly!"

"He surprised me," Stitch muttered, his face contorted. It hurt so much to talk, and his vision was starting to blur at the edges. "Those blades are…" he stopped for a second and waited for the pain to subside. "…really sharp."

Lilo bit her lip and showed him her watch. "I sent Jumba a distress beacon, Stitch. He'll come and patch you up. _You'll be okay_."

"Okie-taka," Stitch said. He was beginning to feel a bit light-headed. _Is this how it feels to really get hurt? I don't like it..._

"Stitch, stay awake," Lilo said firmly, tears sparkling in her eyes. "Don't leave me, alright?"

"Ih," Stitch said.

* * *

"So, where are we going?" Maverick asked, cocking his head. 

"Little Girl was sending out distress call. She would not be doing that without extremely good reason. Perhaps she or, somehow, 626 was being hurt, or worse. It likely is having to do with new Experiment activation." Jumba accelerated the buggy. The concert taking place across town was massive, and a huge draw for tourists. A good 85 percent of the town was attending the concert; most of the stores were even closed for the afternoon. The streets were like a ghost town, and there were certainly no police to ticket Jumba for driving at 95 miles per hour; they were all at the concert acting as security. Jumba turned, nearly flipping the buggy as he made what could generously be called a rolling stop. He suddenly spoke again. "Why are you coming with me?"

"I have nothing better to do. I'm still trying to figure everything out. I may as well try and gain your trust while I'm at it."

Jumba smiled. "Surely it is easier for you to see where you need to be going than for most people."

Maverick sighed and scratched his furry white head. "You'd think that, wouldn't you? But sometimes – like now, obviously – my powers only make it worse." His head snapped up, and he quickly extended his arm. A bolt of glowing energy shot from his metallic finger, striking a small missile that had been silently approaching from their left. The missile detonated, and a wave of heat washed over the speeding buggy and its occupants. Maverick backflipped out of his seat, snapping the restraints, and landed on top of his headrest. "Jumba, in a few seconds," he said calmly but quickly, "I will be knocked from the buggy. KEEP DRIVING."

"What?" Jumba asked incredulously, but it was too late. A bolt of lightning struck Maverick in the chest, similar to the one he himself had just generated. Maverick was launched from the car, just as he said he would be, and rolled to a stop on the dirt road, crackling with electricity. _He said for to continue driving, I will continue to be driving. I am sure he can be handling… whatever that was. Besides, Little Girl and 626 are needing my help!_ He sped on through the afternoon sun.

A furry red figure landed from a jump on a nearby rooftop, cracking it. It was not 627's weight cracking the roof, but the weight of the massive weapon strapped to his back. It was a missile rack with sixteen slots in four rows of four. All of the slots were filled with imposing red missiles, except for one on the top row, which was empty and smoking. A targeting device was strapped to 627's head, its transparent lens covering his eyes. The device looked like it was designed to be strapped to a hovertank instead of a person: it must have been, at minimum, 1,000 times 627's weight when loaded. The straps sticking out from the bottom, and the poor welding job attaching them, showed that the thing was modified for use by an incredibly strong creature. 627 looked down at the crackling, white, prone figure on the ground in front of him. "Get up," he sneered, casually scratching his orange belly fur. "I know Experiment 628 doesn't go down that easily."

**End of Chapter**

**Next chapter: an epic battle of post-626 Experiments! **


	12. Chapter 12

**avatar: Oh yeah! Back in action! The fighting really gets roaring in this chapter! I hope you all enjoy! On a side note, nobody who reviewed last chapter expressed worry that Stitch wouldn't be alright, which tells me that either your emotional responses are dulled, or, more likely, I still have a lot to learn about evoking emotional responses from readers.**

**Gantu: avatarjk137 does not own Lilo and Stitch. However, he does own Sword, Shield, Maverick, and the contents of this story. If you're eager to see more of _me, _I appear in a flashback next chapter. Sadly, I only have a couple of lines.**

**avatar: what a good sport Gantu is!**

**Chapter 12**

**Battle of the Sequels**

"Come one, get up," 627 repeated. "I don't have all day."

"Sorry to make you _wait_!" Without warning, Maverick stopped playing possum and leapt to his feet, throwing the electricity from 627's own attack back at him. 627's eyes widened slightly and he jumped off the roof, dodging the bolt and crashing to the ground on his feet.

"Watch it," 627 growled. "As you can see, I'm carrying sensitive equipment here." He suddenly grinned. "Look what I can do with it!" Another seven of the sixteen slots in the launcher lit up as missiles rocketed out of them. The first one shot toward Maverick, who barely dodged, and crashed to the ground where he had stood, causing a geyser of dirt and concrete to spring up. Maverick ran down the street as fast as his legs would carry him, dodging every missile. 627 laughed. "And that's only the auto-lock! I wonder how accurate it is if I actually aim…"

"You total PSYCHO!" Maverick blasted the launcher with a bolt of electricity, and it began to smoke and hum.

"That's-" 627 began, but the gargantuan missile launcher exploded, enveloping him in a massive blue fireball.

Maverick shielded his eyes until the fire began to die down. "What on Omnitaurus was that for?" _Was he one of Jumba's Experiments? He acted so differently… he was out of his mind!_ "Well, I should catch up with Jumba and ask him about this-" Maverick stopped in midsentence.

627 walked out of the inferno unharmed, and made a show of casually brushing off his fur. "Now you've gone and blown up my newest toy," he said, the firelight reflecting sinisterly in his ominous black eyes.

"Oh, man…" Maverick looked at the blazing flames again. They were starting to die down, but he was thirty feet away and the heat made him uncomfortable from here. "What _are _you?"

"I'm Experiment 627," the red Experiment replied. "Jumba created me to be more powerful than any other Experiment, to be completely and irreversibly evil, and to teach Stitch a lesson. I've decided to kill you." He swayed a bit backward, then raced toward Maverick, extending the claws on his paws to triple their normal length. He slashed forward with his right paw, but Maverick avoided it with a quick step backward. He growled and slashed again while Maverick was balanced on one leg, and Maverick jumped backward into the air. "Eat this!" 627 kicked his leg forward, and it stretched forward, the foot shooting toward Maverick like a battering ram.

"Whoa!" Maverick kicked out to the side, and his jets activated, propelling out of the way. 627's kick kept going and smashed into a video rental store, demolishing it in a single blow. Maverick ran forward and tackled 627 while his leg was stretched out too far to balance on, and knocked him to the ground, causing him to stretch more and flatten out slightly on the dirt. "Get out of here while I'm still willing to let you go!"

"Funny. That's funny," 627 said, pulling in his leg. "I need more practice with Elastico's power. Gotta learn to do it with just part of my body so I'm not so vulnerable." He got up, and cracked his knuckles.

"I said get out of here," Maverick warned, his spines darkening to crimson.

"Still funny," 627 with a wide smile. "You should be thanking me anyway, I was the one who activated your pod on Omnitaurus. It's thanks to me you got to take those powers out for a spin, kid. Wouldn't ending your life leave us about even again?" Without waiting for an answer, he pointed an index finger at Maverick and a bright blue bolt of electricity forked out from his hand. Maverick brought forward his metal right hand, and the bolt struck it, disappearing into his body. Maverick then lashed his left hands forward and a pair of bolts coursed from them into 627, knocking him back. "I guess electricity won't work on you," 627 shrugged. "Let's try something else!"

He exhaled a cloud of cold air and several sharp ice spikes formed in midair. 627 grabbed the spikes and hurled them at Maverick. Maverick dodged, and the spikes crashed into a telephone pole behind him, shredding through the wood of the pole like rice paper. "Stop moving so I don't have to prolong it!" 627 created and lashed out with more spikes, several of which nearly impaled Maverick. "That's it," 627 said irritably. "I'm prolonging it!" He ran straight at Maverick, and began to punch wildly. Maverick blocked with all four arms, but the shock of the flurry of blows still knocked him off his feet.

"How strong are you?" Maverick asked as he rolled to his feet.

"Much stronger than Stitch," 627 answered with a grin. He extended his extra arms and popped the claws on all six arms to maximum length. "Much, _much _stronger!" He slashed forward, alternating with all his arms to provide a steady stream of blows. Maverick attempted to dodge the attacks, feeling the consequences of blocking them last time, but he was quickly tiring from the rapid assault. He blasted backward with his jets, singing the fur on 627's face slightly, and landed on the hood of a parked Honda. "And I know a few parlor tricks." 627 spat a few plasma fireballs at Maverick, who ducked down, causing the orbs to melt right through the windshield.

Maverick looked at the car, and yanked off the hood, revealing the engine underneath. "You aren't the only one with parlor tricks!" Maverick slammed his biological paws into the car's battery, absorbing extra energy and multiplying it tenfold, and blasted the extra-strength bolt at 627 with his metal hands. The bolt slammed into 627 and lifted him into the air and into the damaged telephone pole. The stress was too much for the damaged wood column, and it split where the ice darts had struck it, falling to the ground and tearing off some phone lines.

627 got up. "Now I'm a little annoyed," he growled, grabbing the telephone pole and swinging it like a wiffle bat.

* * *

"That should be doing it," Jumba said, using a pair of scissors to snip the bandages from the roll. He looked at the large amount of bandages covering Stitch's torso. "To think Hamsterviel could make Experiment that can be cleaving Stitch open like surgeon… I was _definitely_ not giving him enough credit." 

"Stitch will be okay, though, right?" Lilo said hopefully.

"Although 626 was not designed to have skin broken in first place, he is having accelerated healing factor. Restoratives in bandages should be helping further. And for such a serious wound, he was not bleeding very much, but I am not sure why."

"When I was sitting right there, holding Stitch's hand, I could feel the Experiment powers running through me again." Lilo smiled and wiped the tears from her eyes. "I remembered Absolute's telekinesis, and I tried to hold Stitch's wound closed with my mind. I guess it worked."

"Genius thinking, Little Girl," Jumba said. He helped Stitch up, and motioned to the buggy. "Come. Perhaps this H4 can be reasoned with. If not, maybe even with Stitch wounded we can be succeeding in a three-on-one fight." He pointed to four plasma blasters laying in the backseat. "Maverick was supposed to be coming, but he was being… held up. I believe another Experiment was attacking us."

"H5 was also activated," Lilo said as they climbed into the car, "but over toward the museum. Sword said he was headed that direction… to meet up with H5. He called H5 his brother."

"We need to be worrying about H4 first," Jumba said. "Maverick is powerful and can be fending off an Experiment on his own… probably. In the meantime, we will be searching for H4. Little Girl and 626, be telling me as I am driving what H4's abilities are being."

"First, he was able to disguise himself as a human by shapeshifting," Lilo began. "He said he had to scan for a while first."

"Hamsterviel probably was programming that into all the H-Series as a concealment feature," Jumba noted.

"Also, he acted weird for an Experiment. He was really polite, but not to the point where it's annoying like with Manners."

"That is being unusual. Neither 627 nor Hamsterviel is being likely of programming that. Is probably personality developing based on powers."

"Sword was pretty agile. Could jump around almost as well as me. He had… I think six blades on his body to attack with," Stitch continued. "He cut through me like air, Jumba!"

"That should not even being possible!" Jumba said incredulously as he rounded a turn.

"Well, the blade glowed a bit right before it struck me," Stitch said thoughtfully.

"Hmm… there was slight burning around your wound." Jumba pondered for a moment. "It is being most likely that H4 can be channeling specific wavelength of radiation through blades for nearly unlimited cutting power by tearing through molecular structure; however any specific wavelength would be having some elements it could not cut through. In the meantime, I suggest we simply avoid very sharp blades by fighting H4 at distance."

"Will I be able to fight with these bandages?" Stitch asked, looking at the chemically treated gauze covering most of his torso. A bit of pink blood had stained through in the middle.

"By the time we are reaching museum area, you will have probably recovered to point where you could move normally. However, skin will still be sensitive for the next twenty-four hours, so… do not get hit."

"Dodge everything, check," Stitch said. "With those blasters, we should be able to just play keep-away until he and H5 are down."

"Then we can get started on turning them to good," Lilo suggested.

"Hopefully."

* * *

"Batter up!" 627 easily swung the telephone pole toward Maverick. Maverick jumped clear, but a loose cable from the pole wrapped around his leg and pulled him along, smashing him into a window and shattering it. "Pitcher down. Javelin toss overtime!" 627 spun the pole above his head so the end that wasn't laden with wires and fuse-boxes faced Maverick, and then threw it toward the window. Maverick recovered and jumped up and away from the window before the pole could crash into it, damaging the house further. Maverick landed on the pole and began firing lightning bolts at 627. 627 simply covered his eyes with one hand and began running forward, shrugging off the barrage of electricity. 

"Damn, it's not working," Maverick snarled, dropping the assault. "Why are you even attacking me?!"

"I want to destroy Stitch and his stupid ohana, for what they've done to me!" 627 blasted a beam of green laser fire at Maverick, causing him to jump away. "Ever since Jumba created me, they've done nothing but wrong me!"

"Wrong you? What are you talking about?" _They seem nice enough to me_, Maverick thought to himself as he fired more blasts at 627, again to little effect.

"I was created to teach Stitch a lesson by outperforming him in all aspects of destruction," 627 snarled. He extended his second head, and now began blasting away at the frantically-dodging Maverick with two pairs of laser eyes. "Simple enough, no? But they wouldn't let me exercise my full power, begin killing and destroying as I was meant to. Finally, Stitch somehow defeated me by taking advantage of an accidental weakness, and sealed me up in a ball! It makes me so _mad…_ SO VERY MAD!" 627 grabbed the telephone pole again, yanked it lose from the window it was lodged in, and snapped it in half like a toothpick. He then tossed both pieces at Maverick, igniting them with his laser beams as they flew through the air. Maverick dodged again, but stumbled on landing, and was barely able to roll away from another laser blast.

"But obviously you escaped," Maverick concluded. He jumped up to a rooftop and found an air-conditioning unit. He began firing enhanced blasts of electricity, leeching off the AC unit for extra power. 627 was blasted back into a brick wall from the assault, but then the AC unit ran out of power and 627 instantly recovered. "How'd you get free?"

"It was all thanks to Experiment 000," 627 laughed, all his rage suddenly apparently gone. "He rehydrated me, rescued me from that little round prison. Then he improved me, using his telepathic powers to take away my weakness! He wasn't a very kind boss… but at least he was wise. But then!" And he was suddenly angry again. "Stitch defeated me AGAIN, and he and Lilo turned my boss to good! That little worm beat me with a lucky break! I'll tear him to SHREDS!" 627 picked up a car and threw it at Maverick. He then hurled a bolt of lightning into the gas tank in midair, igniting it like a match head. Maverick dodged the flaming Ford, but 627 repeated the tactic with two more cars and a pickup truck.

Maverick was tiring quickly. He could only dodge for so long, and 627 seemed to shrug off everything. _I'd better try melee attacks._ "Why are you attacking me, then?" He let voltage flow through his fists and began to punch at 627, only for 627 easily parry all of Maverick's attacks and reply with much stronger punches that bruised Maverick even when he blocked them. "Didn't you say you gave me these powers in the first place?"

"I didn't expect for you to leave Omnitaurus," 627 replied angrily as he swept forward with his claws. Maverick jumped away again. "Here, you're an immense complication. Besides, killing a skilled opponent… I can't think of a better way to spend a half-hour! It's so… FUN!"

"What?!" Maverick tore a bench from its foundation, and hurled it at 627, who caught it in his teeth with a grin. "You psycho! You evil, depraved, total lunatic!"

"Oh, that stings," one of 627's heads sniffled sarcastically while the other chewed up the bench. "There is no such thing as good and evil, kid; only having fun and constructing ridiculous moral codes to keep yourself from having fun!" He spat out the bench, and disappeared from sight with a wink.

"Oh, that's just freaking great, he can turn invisible too?!" Maverick looked around. "Did he leave in mid-fight?" Suddenly he dodged to the side, and the ground where he had stood exploded. "Obviously not." Maverick saw a car lifted into the air, and watched as it flew toward him. "Yikes!" He jumped away again, and the car left a crater. Another car was hurled toward him, but this one disappeared in midair, leaving him to dodge blindly. "How am I supposed to fight this?" This time he jumped away from what he knew to be a flurry of punches. As yet another Hummer was lifted into the air, Maverick got an idea. "Take this!" Maverick blasted a bolt of lightning underneath the car, and successfully hit 627. Although the blow didn't hurt him as such, it broke his concentration long enough for him to drop the car on his foot, causing him to yell in shock and return to normal visibility.

"How'd you dodge like that when I was invisible?" 627 asked angrily, massaging his foot. "That almost hurt…"

"Let's just say I've got a sixth sense when it comes to getting hit," Maverick said. He then began to charge up electricity, using the device on his back as always. He felt the familiar chill as the backpack took in ambient heat and converted it to electricity. _C'mon,_ Maverick said, gritting his small, sharp teeth, _I need more power. The normal amount isn't going to stop 627._

Meanwhile, 627 was pondering aloud what Maverick had said. "It can't be mind-reading… I've got a split mind, I can tell when people read my minds because it disrupts my synchronization… you must be predicting the future! That's a great power, but I suppose you _are _628." He finally noticed Maverick charging the attack, as a layer of ice had actually begun to form on the ground around the Experiments. "You really think that'll work? Just try it."

"Don't mind if I do!" Maverick shot out a concentrated beam of electrical power, and 627 jumped straight up to dodge it. However, just as he cleared the beam, it curved upward and crashed into him, shocking him thoroughly.

"YOW!" Maverick ran out of energy to sustain the beam, and 627 crashed to the ground on hands and knees, his fur singed and smoking. "Not bad for a new guy," 627 laughed, "but you're still only second-rate. _I_, on the other hand… well, I'm not just empty bravado." With that, 627 suddenly dashed to the right, moving twice as fast as he had before. Maverick barely had time to turn to follow 627's movements before the evil Experiment lowered his claws to the ground – kicking up a trail of sparks that was probably mostly for show – and charged Maverick. Maverick dodged the first, second, and third slashes (all of which came within a half second of time), but then he was forced to block the attacks, causing collateral damage to his body. 627's attacks now only came based on whether the previous attack missed or connected, meaning Maverick didn't have the three-seconds of warning he usually did. At best, he now had a quarter-second's warning before an attack happened, and it was showing. He clumsily parried a claw attack, and 627's talons tore into his metal right hand, severing a finger. Maverick could only helplessly continue to block as the finger trailed off into the distance, wires sparking.

Suddenly, 627 lashed forward with his heads, biting Maverick simultaneously on each shoulder. The warning had been brief enough that Maverick hadn't gotten over the initial shock that 627 would try and bite him next, and he was left totally vulnerable to the attack. "Ahh!" Maverick instinctively released a strong enough pulse of electricity through his body to make 627 loosen his grip slightly. Not wanting to miss the chance, Maverick pulled backward, tearing his flesh on 627's sharklike teeth. "You BIT me!" Maverick's jets activated, and he began to fly low along the ground, concentrating on getting away from the psychotic and formidable Experiment.

"Well, I can't let my fangs just go to waste," 627 began as he licked his lips, but then he noticed Maverick escaping. "Where are YOU going?!" He thrusted all six arms forward, and they stretched like elastic bands, each one passing by Maverick on one side. _Just as I thought,_ 627 grinned as he allowed one head to retract and centered the other one on his shoulders, _he didn't predict it because it wasn't aimed at him directly._ He clasped his six paws together about twenty feet in front of Maverick, forming a long, prism-like cage with 627's body at one end, his hands at the other, and his arms forming bars. "Come BACK here!" He began pulling his arms back in.

"What the-?" Maverick turned in place and slammed his back into 627's interwoven hands, pulling him back toward his opponent's face. "What's the point of this?" In response, 627 opened his mouth impossibly wide, stretching his face until his maw was gaping enough to swallow Maverick whole. "You've gotta be kidding me!"

"Nho shoke," 627 replied, trying to laugh without shrinking his mouth back to normal size.

"I'm not going to let you just... eat me alive!" Maverick pressed his four arms against 627's top and middle pair, and his feet against 627's bottom pair of arms. He then dug his claws in and started to release all the electricity he could, slowing 627 down and making him growl in pain. Finally, the attack ground to a stop with Maverick trapped up against 627's hands six inches from his jaw. 627 tried to force Maverick farther in, but Maverick braced his feet against 627's lower jaw, and the strange angle made it hard for 627 to use his full strength. "Ha! Your trap didn't work!" Maverick said with a grin.

Suddenly an inner set of jaws shot forward from 627's mouth and bit down on Maverick's face. Maverick screamed and dug his claws into the stalk the inner jaws were on, and 627 let go of Maverick and pulled the inner jaws back in. They rolled away from each other, 627 spitting blood out of his mouth, and Maverick checking his face for damage. There were a few shallow cuts on his forehead, nose, and cheeks that spilled pink blood onto his face, but Maverick was not most worried about his face, but what he wore on them. He pulled off the two scanners he wore over his eyes and stared at them in wide-eyed horror. Tears began to well up in Maverick's eyes. The plasma-infused glass lenses on both scanners were shattered, and the leather strap on one had snapped.

**End of Chapter**

**Yes! 627 was able to use that _Alien_-style inner mouth in a battle! Excellent!**

**Next chapter: a flashback, conclusion of the Maverick/627 fight, and beginning of the next fight scene. It's not going to be a short chapter.**


	13. Chapter 13

**avatar: yay for flashbacks enabling long chapters! I'm almost all the way to my self-imposed weekly deadline poking me in the back. Hopefully I'll be able to pull ahead again. Also, this is the hump point! Yes, I have confirmed that Rebel Without a Cause will be twenty-five chapters in length. Plus, I will have another preview. PREVIEW! (Regains composure) I do not own Lilo and Stitch. However, I do own Maverick, the crew of the _Protest, _the H-series Experiments, and the contents of this story. And Absolute, but he isn't in this chapter.**

**Chapter 13**

**Caretaker**

_Maverick's eyes fluttered open, and a faint wave of pain passed through his body. "Ugh…" He was staring up at a white ceiling. He heard a beeping sound and looked to his left to see a medical machine next to the bed he was in. It was hooked to his body. He concluded he must be in the Protest's modest medical ward._ What happened?_ he asked himself. But slowly, he realized he already knew. The mission… the captain… he had died… and then Maverick had tried to save the crew from some huge weapon… did it work?_ What a stupid question, of course it worked_. He sat up, and found it quite uncomfortable; it didn't hurt, but he was covered entirely in bandages except for his eyes, nose, and lips, and was still hooked to the machinery. He gulped, and looked at his arms and legs, preparing for the worst._

_However, the missing parts of his limbs had already been replaced with what looked like titanium prosthetics. He flexed the hands, curious. They had the same number of fingers as his old ones. Although they didn't have the same white claws as his natural paws, they tapered to a sharp point. He noticed they ended just below his bandaged elbows, and a wire came out of them at the base. He followed the wire to his back, where he found a new, identical generator backpack had already replaced his old one. Wires also extended to his mechanical feet, which were very similar to his old ones, round feet with four stubby toes. There was a strange hollow inside his feet that would give him a weird footprint, but he had other worries occupying his mind._

_As he unhooked the wires and tubes coming from the medical machine, Kherris walked in, holding a drink. "You're awake!" Kherris exclaimed happily, and Maverick was surprised to see her lose her composure for even a split-second. "We thought we'd lost you, too."_

"_I guess I'm fine," Maverick responded. "How long was I out for?"_

"_In a few hours, it'll have been three days." She took a long pull from her drink. "I'm glad you woke up at all."_

"_Three days?" Maverick swore_. I've been out for that long?_ "Where'd you guys get these awesome prosthetics? I thought my life was basically over out there."_

"_That's the really weird thing," Kherris responded, finishing the bottle. "As soon as it was over, Calder put on a suit and went right out there to pull you in, since you were dying out there. The _Eureka_ high-tailed it out of there as soon as they could, they were freaked out. We got you in and got what was left of you on life support right away, and your body… it kind of ate the life support machine. It melted onto your body and formed those prosthetics, plus your new backpack. Any idea what happened?"_

"_None." Maverick flexed his new hands again. "The backpack first appeared in kind of the same way, though, now that I think about it." He paused. "Where are my other arms?! Oh, wait, I sucked them in because the suit only had two arm sleeves." He extended them, bursting through some of his bandages, and unclenched his fist. "I can't believe it… the captain's eyescanner is okay!" His heart sank. "I did a horrible job protecting it. He wanted me to show it to you all, and to say 'No regrets'… Why are you looking at me like that?"_

_Kherris chuckled. "I think you should show this to the rest of the crew, if you're able to walk."_

"_Kherris… I'm sorry I couldn't save him."_

"_Not your fault," she said, looking away. "It was his own plan, anyway. Sure you're okay?"_

_Maverick jumped off the bed. "I'm fine. These prosthetics are a perfect fit. The bandages are uncomfortable, though." He grasped bandages all over his body in his free hands. "I'm going to take them off."_

"_No, wait," Kherris began, but it was too late. Maverick shredded them all, leaving himself looking good-as-new. "I was saying that when we bandaged you up three days ago, you were missing all your fur and part of your skin, but never mind."_

"_I guess I'm a fast healer," Maverick responded with a shrug. "Where are my pants?"_

_---_

_Moments later, Maverick and Kherris appeared on the bridge, to a round of cheering. "Our hero made it through!" Calder yelled. "You saved all our hides, kid!"_

"_Uhh, thanks?" Maverick responded._

"_More big news, guys," Kherris said. "The captain gave Maverick his eyescanner before he died, and you _all_ know what that means." An uncomfortable silence descended upon the ship._

"_What does that mean?" Maverick asked finally._

"_Oh, right," Kherris slapped herself over the eyes. "You're new, Maverick, I forgot for a moment. About a year ago, the captain celebrated being a space pirate for thirty-five years. He told the crew that he eventually planned to name a successor for captain, and that the traditional symbol of this succession would be…" she paused, and sniffed, wiping her eyes. "It would be giving the successor his eyescanner. He wanted you to be the new captain, Maverick."_

"_You've got to be kidding me," Maverick protested. "I'm not cut out to be a leader! I haven't even been a pirate two months! I don't know anything about captaining a ship!"_

"_And I wouldn't want you as a captain!" One of the crew yelled._

_Maverick quickly rounded on him. "Shut up and don't agree with me!"_

"_Maverick, I'm sure you'll be a great captain," Kherris offered._

"_Guys?" Jovus asked._

"_Why don't you be captain?" Maverick continued, ignoring Jovus._

"_I'm more of a fit for an advisor position. I'm not a good leader."_

"_And I am?"_

"_Guys?"_

"_Obviously the captain thought so, he gave you his scanner, and not to give to one of us or anything, right?"_

"_BASE CAMP TO MAVERICK AND KHERRIS!"_

"_What?! What is it?!" Maverick yelled. "I'm in the middle of an argument here!"_

"_We're surrounded," Jovus sighed._

"_What? That's impossible!" Kherris declared. "When did this happen?"_

"_While you two were arguing, over a dozen GF ships appeared out of hyperspace around us, including the _BRB 9000_."_

"_You're kidding," Maverick said in disbelief. Jovus tapped in a command, and the screen showed a massive red spaceship in front of them, as well as several police cruisers to all sides. "You aren't kidding."_

_A bald, flat blue face with blue eyes appeared on the screen. The face's owner wore a horned headdress, marking her as the Grand Councilwoman. "In the name of the Galactic Federation, you are hereby ordered to surrender at once."_

"_I didn't know we were famous enough to garner personal attention from the Grand Councilwoman," Kherris chuckled._

"_You're laughing in the face of danger, I see," the Grand Councilwoman observed._

"_There's too much danger for it to sink in. I'll wet my pants later. So what brings all this firepower to our little ship?"_

"_Your actions raiding the _Eureka_ the other day," the leader of the free galaxy responded. "Specifically, how you were able to survive that weapon we fired on you."_

"_I can't believe you have such a destructive weapon, much less that you fired it on a small ship," Kherris said. "You call yourselves the 'good guys'… please."_

"_It was in self-defense from you," the Grand Councilwoman replied. "You haven't answered my question."_

"_I dove in front of your laser and reflected it myself okay?!" Maverick snapped. Her head turned to look at him in interest. "It hurt like eleven layers of cold grey hell, too. Nice weapon."_

_A new face appeared on the screen next to the first, a grey, shark-like face with beady blue eyes and a tusklike protrusion on each side. "I knew it! I told you this trog had something to do with it!" Gantu exclaimed gleefully as a slight wave of static passed over his appearance._

"_What's with this trog business again?" Maverick asked. "Why are you insulting my lineage?"_

"_I'd like to know that, too," Brennen agreed._

"_I'm curious," Darnun put in._

"_I think this guy genuinely doesn't know," a third face chimed in as it appeared on screen. It was a furry, yellow face with a red nose, two flat protruding teeth, and solid black eyes just like Maverick's. "Should we tell him, Councilwoman?" Reuben continued._

"_Tell me what? What?" Maverick asked._

"_I have confirmed it with a scan of the ship," Gantu nodded. "And we can't just have him running around free, especially not committing piracy."_

"_Sure, just take up our entire screen," Jovus muttered. "Not like a pilot has to steer or see if a battleship's charging its weapons."_

"_I agree," the Grand Councilwoman nodded, talking to Gantu over the sarcastic muttering of pilot of the _Protest_. She glanced at both other faces flanking her on the screen, and then her eyes fixed on Maverick. "Experiment 628, you are hereby under arrest."_

_A moment passed. "What? Are you talking to me?" Maverick asked. "I think you've got me confused with someone else."_

"_This will be much easier if you comply peacefully, abomination," Gantu added._

"_You know, I could be offended when you call him that, G," Reuben retorted._

"_This isn't the time, Reuben," the captain growled._

"_So you want us to surrender, or you'll open fire?" Maverick asked, his mind racing._

"_Yes."_

"_Well, we're obviously outnumbered, but if we fought back we'd probably shoot down one or two of your cruisers," Maverick pointed out. "And that would be a shame if you lost a few soldiers. So I'll surrender… with a condition."_

_Gantu chuckled, amused. "Fine. Name it."_

"_You let the rest of my crew go free."_

"_What?!" Gantu's amusement quickly turned to anger. "Never. Your crew's been a thorn in our side for decades!"_

"_Oh, what a shame," Maverick muttered._

"_Fine," the Grand Councilwoman sighed. "We accept your terms."_

"_Miss Grand Councilwoman," Gantu began, "you can't seriously-"_

"_Quiet, Captain Gantu!" She snapped, and turned back to Maverick. "If you come quietly, we will let your crew go. HOWEVER, if they commit piracy again we will go right after them again. And you must return the data you hacked off the _Eureka_. It's all classified."_

"_Agreed," Maverick nodded. "I'll take our escape pod right over to the BRB 9000 and surrender myself and the data."_

"_You have five minutes before we open fire," Gantu said, and all the communication screens flickered off._

"_Maverick," Calder protested. "We're not leaving you behind!"_

"_Yes. You. Are. Consider it my first and last order as captain," Maverick said with an air of finaloty. Calder became very quiet as Maverick strapped on the captain's eyescanner in addition to a normal one, forming a pair. The only difference between them was the green strap on the captain's compared to the burgundy strap of the other scanners._

"_Here's the data," Darnun said sadly, tossing Maverick a flash drive, which he caught._

"_We've already made back-ups," Brennen added._

"_Maverick, are you sure you want to do this?" Kherris asked kindly._

"_Sure. I've already saved your hides once," Maverick chuckled. "Besides, that woman's far too righteous to condone torturing me or anything. You can see it in her expression." He mocked a regal frown, eliciting snickers from the crew. "I'd better get going. You guys make a 180 and leave as fast as you can."_

_"Be careful," Kherris said quietly. Maverick nodded and ran toward the escape pod._

_---_

"Hello?" 627 leaned in and let his foul, blood-scented breath wash over Maverick like a wave of hot death. No response. Maverick was staring at the broken eyescanners cupped in his lower pair of hands, his eyes tearing, oblivious to everything going on around him. "This is really irritating. If you aren't going to fight back, I'll just have to tear into you." 627 slashed Maverick across the face, drawing several thin lines of blood. Maverick staggered back a couple steps, clutching the broken devices in his fists, and then stood still again, head now down. "Well?" No response. 627 scowled. "This is no fun." He wound up as far back as he could, and drove his fist into Maverick's chin as hard as he could. Maverick went flying over one hundred feet. "Okay, that was fun." 627 enthusiastically chased after Maverick's retreating form.

He found Maverick lying on the ground, staring up at the trees, still completely unresponsive despite the blood now caked across his face. "What are you, catatonic?" 627 picked Maverick up by the throat and spat in his face. Still nothing. "This _is _fun," he chuckled. He threw Maverick lightly into the air, and punched the Experiment-altered Omnitaurian as hard as he could. Maverick shot back another few dozen feet, and 627 followed again. He found Maverick laying face-up on the ground again, now near a cliffside. This time, he bent down and verified Maverick was still breathing. "Little piece of garbage… what's wrong with you?" He noticed Maverick's eyes were now clenched shut, tears falling from them. "You must be pretty out of it. I guess I have to wake you up."

627 slammed his knee into Maverick's stomach and began pummeling his chest and face. One particularly vicious punch was rewarded with a sickening crack, and more blood began to flow, now from Maverick's nose. The force of the blows caused a small piece of the cliff to crack off and fall to the water below. 627 looked at the spot where the rock had been. "There's an idea!" He looked down at Maverick. "I can swim properly, but Stitch can't. Neither can Leroy or Reuben, or many of the other Experiments. Can you?" he asked rhetorically. "Let's find out!"

627 grabbed the unresponsive Maverick with all the arms on his left side, and dived off the cliff, launching high into the air before the fall began. He was aiming past the jagged rocks for the foamy blue of the ocean. "I'll just drown you," he laughed. "The real question is what the best use of your body will be."

Finally, Maverick whispered something, his voice shaky and barely audible with the wind whipping past them as they fell. "It… it's broken."

"Huh? Yeah, sure it is. So you're talking again, eh?" the water was now quite close to them.

"YOU BASTARD! YOU BROKE IT!" Maverick screamed. All the warmth around them drained into his backpack, which began to glow and spark brightly. Maverick turned and clamped his hands onto 627's face, and an icy coating began to form over 627's red fur as Maverick siphoned more heat from him. Finally, Maverick's whole body was crackling with power, which he forced back into the hand holding 627. 627 yelled in pain as his own stolen body heat coursed back into him as electricity, and began wildly slashing at Maverick, letting go of him. Maverick threw 627 as hard as he could into the cliff wall, shattering it, and his jets burst to life just in time to stop him from hitting the water.

"RAH! DIE!" 627 spat a few balls of plasma at Maverick, but they were mainly wild shots or blocked by the cascade of rocks falling around and onto 627, knocked from the cliff by his impact. Maverick dodged a wild rock and used the jets to power himself back up to the top of the cliff. His jets gave out as soon as he reached it, and he landed hard on hands and knees, breathing heavily. Maverick held out his fist and unclenched it. Although still destroyed, his captain's eyescanner was still there. Maverick unclenched his other first. Empty. He must've dropped his regular one into the ocean.

"Maybe Jumba can repair it," Maverick whispered, and he retracted his lower arms, hiding the device. He struggled to his feet; he was a bit lightheaded from all the blood that had escaped through his face, and his prosthetic limbs weren't responding as well as usual. "Damn," he groaned. "It will be a long walk back."

"I should save you the trouble, then." Maverick turned around in time for a furry fist to drive itself into his throat, stunning him. 627 was soaking wet and scratched up. The fur was singed all across his rage-twisted face. As Maverick doubled over, grasping his throat, 627 lifted Maverick over his head and tossed him with one hand. Maverick landed hard and rolled in the dirt. "Nobody one-ups me and lives to tell the story!" 627 positioned all six hands in front of him, and a dark, swirling vortex appeared between them. The vortex coalesced into a black, spinning sphere, and a crack of bright green appeared at the center. "Make my day," 627 laughed harshly.

Suddenly, the energy orb ruptured, and a gout of green plasma erupted in 627's face, knocking him off-balance as Maverick watched in shock. 627 recovered, and glared at Maverick. He opened his mouth to say something, but all that came out was an incoherent howl of fury. He then ran off into the shrubbery, running at a speed Maverick wouldn't be able to match if he was at his best, let alone now, when Maverick couldn't bend his ankles properly. _That was about the strangest fight I've ever been in,_ Maverick thought to himself. _I wonder which way Jumba's ship is._

_---_

"Did you miss me, brother?" Shield asked as he pulverized the engine block of a car.

"Do you even need to ask?" Sword replied, cleanly slicing the top off a fire hydrant and letting it sprinkle down on them. "I am quite glad the mission is going as planned." He cut down a stop sign at its base, and paused. "It appears we have company," he chuckled.

"Great! I was getting bored." Shield pulled a wheel from the wrecked car and hurled it through a store window. Less than five seconds later, the buggy whipped around a corner and came to a screeching halt. Lilo and Stitch jumped from it, holding blasters, and Jumba quickly followed, holding one of his own.

"Little Girl, are you remembering how to use these?" Jumba had taught Lilo and Nani how to handle a GF standard blaster pistol in emergencies, but that had been a couple of years ago.

"Yeah," Lilo replied calmly. "Just set the safety to 'OFF', turn the dial to how much power I need, and pull the trigger. The second, smaller trigger is for the net, right?"

"Is correct." Jumba looked up, and noticed Sword and Shield staring at them with amused expressions. "Experiments H4 and H5, we are being here to capture you. Will you be going peacefully?"

"We shouldn't even have to dignify that with an answer," Shield chuckled.

"It looks like you managed to survive, Stitch," Sword observed. "Maybe I underestimated you. I'll tell you what…" he swung both arm blades forward, "I'll use two blades this time."

Stitch growled, and fired a shot at Sword. Shield stepped forward and blocked the shot with the shield on his arm. The plasma was absorbed into the purple spike, and Shield's muscles rippled and bulged under his fur as the fresh power flowed into them. He then hefted a minivan with less effort than before, and hurled it at Stitch. Stitch, Lilo, and Jumba dived away, and the car crashed into the ground next to the buggy. "Okie-taka," Stitch muttered as he helped Jumba to his feet, "don't shoot at H5."

"My name's Shield." The bulky, silver-furred Experiment curled into his wheel form again and rushed at Stitch, who jumped away again. Sword dashed forward and slashed at Stitch as he landed, but Lilo fired a net and trapped Sword just before the attack connected. Sword laughed and sliced himself free with a casual wave of his blades. Shield had reversed himself and rolled at Stitch again, but Jumba shot the ground in front of him, and the pothole caused him to bounce over Stitch and into a dumpster. Sword, after stepping completely out of the net, dashed at Stitch, but Stitch jumped away and began to fire shots from the blast at him. Sword dodged a few, and took cover behind a bench.

"It works! He can't attack from a distance!" Stitch yelled. "Hey Sword, that bench won't provide much cover!" He set the blaster to the next power setting up (the highest one), and fired a shot. It passed through the bench right by Sword's head and continued into the sliced fire hydrant, which exploded entirely.

"You're in for a rude awakening, Stitch!" Sword jumped into the air, pulled his arms back, and snapped them forward. Twin silvery lines of energy shot from his blades and raced toward Stitch. Stitch recovered in time to jump away, but the waves of radiation sliced his blaster in half, destroying it.

Stitch looked at the destroyed stump of his blaster, and threw it away with a sigh. "Oh, blitznack."

**End of Chapter**

**I had to use the --- symbol for scene changes because the line break ate the last sentence before it if that sentence had been in italics. It was very strange.**

**Next chapter: Sword and Shield, the products of 627 and Hamsterviel's work, square off with Stitch, Jumba, and Lilo. Do they have any weaknesses? Can they be defeated at all?**


	14. Chapter 14

**avatar: Just made the deadline! This chapter is where I really get to fleshing out Sword and Shield's characters a bit. The fight scene will conclude next chapter. 14 down, 11 to go! Leroy will now provide the disclaimer!**

**Leroy: (gives finger)**

**avatar: (puts in an Elvis CD)**

**Leroy: (Sigh) avatarjk137 does not own Lilo and Stitch. He only owns Maverick, Sword, Shield, and the contents of this story.**

**Chapter 14**

**On Razor's Edge**

"Jumba, how did he do that?" Stitch asked. Sword pulled back his arm and launched another wave, which Stitch dodged. The wave continued for about forty feet before dissipating.

"I am guessing that H4 can be 'throwing' the radiation that he is generating to an extent," Jumba said, taking another shot at Sword, who rolled from the blast. "We need to be figuring out what the radiation is not able to cut through!"

"I've already seen that my flesh and the blaster's plastic won't work," Stitch said. "Maybe- YAHH!" As Stitch dodged another cutting wave, Shield grabbed him out of the air and hurled him against the concrete wall of a building. Shield then curled up and rolled after Stitch. "Whoa!" Stitch crawled higher up the wall as Shield rammed into the spot where he had been embedded seconds ago. Shield kept rotating, his spikes digging deep gouges in the wall and swirling up a cloud of concrete dust. Sword launched more cutting waves at Stitch, who jumped away and landed on a palm tree. "Maybe he can't cut through wood." Stitch pulled the tree up by the roots and swung it at Sword. Sword swung his blade once, and the tree split in two, Stitch's half passing in front of his face and the other half falling behind him. "No, he can definitely cut wood."

"This is getting old," Sword said, shaking his head. He leapt into the air and dropped toward Stitch with one blade pointing forward. Stitch leapt just far enough to dodge, and jumped back toward Sword the instant he landed. Sword brought his other blade forward to parry Stitch's claws, and lightly kicked him away. Stitch landed on his feet, and Sword rushed forward with his blades in front. Stitch dodged, but it was a feint and Sword kicked Stitch's legs out from under him and brought one sword down. Stitch didn't have time to dodge, and grabbed the only thing in arm's reach to block the attack: the manhole cover Shield had burst from. Surprisingly, Sword's blade bounced off. Sword yelled in anger, charged more energy into his blade, and stabbed again, but only succeeded in piercing about halfway through the heavy metal disc.

"I get it," Stitch said, getting to his feet while keeping the cover in front of him like a shield (he had dug his claws into the back for a better grip), "you can't cut metal!"

"Think you're clever, do you?" Sword asked irritably. "Fine then. For figuring it out, you rate four blades!" Stitch noticed Sword's legs tense, and the blades folded back against his calves twitched. "Die!" Sword stabbed at the cover with both blades and followed with two kicks, forcing Stitch back. He then extended the blade on one foot and delivered a series of stab-kicks, pockmarking the manhole cover. He finished by leaping into the air and bringing the blade down in a vicious heel kick, making Stitch hold the beaten disc over his head like an umbrella.

Meanwhile, Shield was grappling with Lilo. Even with her adrenaline pumping, giving her Stitch's proportional strength, Shield was forcing her back. He then lifted her off the ground and tossed her into a concrete wall of the town's new museum, cracking it. Lilo yelled and telekinetically threw Sword into the buggy, where he crushed the front windshield. "Did I do that?" Lilo wondered as she pulled herself free and picked up the blaster she dropped.

"Yes, and was being brilliant work, Little Girl!" Jumba fired a net at Shield, who jumped behind the buggy. The net wrapped around the front end of the buggy instead, and Shield slammed it with his tail, knocking it into the air. Jumba's reflexes failed him, and the buggy crashed into him, trapping him underneath.

"Jumba!" Stitch yelled, and Sword swung low, forcing Stitch to jump to the rain cover of a nearby bus stop. "You okie-taka?" he yelled as he blocked a trio of cutting waves that Sword sent his way.

"I am being fine," Jumba's muffled voice replied from under the dented buggy, "be worrying about yourself, please, I am not having many more bandages on person!"

Sword jumped at Stitch and sliced the entire bus stop in half with a single downward stroke. Stitch jumped away and rammed the manhole cover into Sword's face, knocking him down. "BROTHER!" Shield cried, and he rolled toward Stitch.

"Oh no you don't!" Lilo grabbed his tail as he passed by, and used his own momentum to hurl him into a billboard.

Shield growled and peeled himself loose. "You three are really getting on my nerves!" At the same time, Stitch took advantage of Sword being dazed and threw the manhole cover at him. Shield jumped from the cracked billboard, used his curled form to block the manhole cover, and plowed into Stitch, driving him into the ground and literally running him over. Stitch groaned in pain, feeling his wounds reopen slightly.

Shield continued over him and attacked Lilo again, and Sword ran over to Stitch. "Get up," he commanded.

Stitch got up, and surprisingly Sword didn't attack until the instant Stitch was standing. Stitch ducked under, weaved around, and jumped over Sword's new rush of blades. "Why are you being so polite?"

"Shield and I were programmed to be the ultimate soldier Experiments," Sword explained proudly. "My brother disagrees with me on this, but I think an ultimate soldier should follow a code of chivalry. It's not sporting to attack an unnarmed, prone opponent." Stitch grabbed a metal pole knocked loose by Shield's rampage and blocked Sword's downward strike. Sword then kicked out, forcing Stitch to back off. "Come, Shield!" Sword leapt into the air, and Shield rolled away from Lilo, maneuvering under his 'brother'. Sword landed on Shield's wheel-like curled body, and as Shield rolled toward Stitch, Sword began running backwards on his brother's back to maintain his balance. "And what are soldiers without perfect teamwork?" Stitch jumped away as Shield attempted to squash him again, but his dodge gave Sword the chance to land a shallow cut in Stitch's arm.

"Ahh!" Stitch rolled as he landed, ending up next to Lilo. "Lilo! Shoot them now! Shield can't block and protect Sword when Sword's on top of him like that!"

"Right!" Lilo shot at Sword, but he released a cutting wave that cancelled out the plasma blast. He released another wave, aimed at her, but Stitch blocked it with the metal pole. "Stitch, how can we stop them?" They were quickly drawing close.

Stitch got an idea. "Lilo, when Stitch says now, use your mind to throw me at them." He hurled the pole at Sword, who raised both arms to block it. "NOW!" Lilo telekinetically tossed Stitch at Sword, and Stitch curled into a ball. Sword's arms were still positioned to block the pole aimed at his head, and he wasn't able to parry Stitch's tackle. "RAHH!" Stitch knocked Sword from Shield's back, and plowed them straight into and through a brick wall. When they landed inside the building, they separated on impact, and Stitch rubbed his head. _Lilo can really throw._

Stitch looked up, and gasped in astonishment. They were inside the museum, and Stitch had just stepped into a very lucky break. A very wealthy benefactor was providing the newest exhibit for a few months, before it continued to tour through museums across the Pacific Islands. The museum was closed today, so the lights were out and everything was shut down and bolted, but Stitch didn't need much light to see the gleam of the objects on display. He stared up at a banner hanging across the back wall, and grinned at the gallery's title – _Blades Throughout Human History._

Sword was also looking around at the swords, knives, axes and spears surrounding them, and holding a small cut on his forehead leaking pink blood. "This is going to be a major disadvantage for me," he sighed. The large blades on his back unfolded and rose over his shoulders, pointing down at Stitch. "I'd better use all six blades." Sword jumped into the air and performed a front flip, and his 'wing' blades sent a double cutting wave hurtling toward Stitch. Stitch jumped away, and the waves carved deep grooves in the rubble and floor tiles where he had been a split-second ago. "You have no chance, Stitch!" Sword sprinted forward and lashed out with a roundhouse kick. Stitch jumped over Sword, and the attack cleaved a cardboard cutout of a Viking in half at the waist. Stitch landed on a glass case and slammed his hand through it, setting off an alarm as he pulled out a medieval greatsword easily twice as long as Stitch was tall. Sword jumped at Stitch and slashed at him, cutting through the glass with the precision of a laser beam. Unfortunately, Stitch had jumped over Sword again, so it was only glass Sword cut through.

"Yah!" Stitch sliced at Sword's back as he fell, but Sword blocked with one of his wing-blades. Stitch rolled, and Sword was already on top of him as he came up. Stitch blocked a kick-slash, and Sword brought his arms and wing blades forward so they extended above Stitch and on either side of him.

"You're trapped," Sword sneered, and he brought his blades down. Stitch leapt backward with speed he didn't even knew he had, and successfully avoided the trap (he crashed into a wall from the force of his jump, though). Sword growled and began swinging his arms and 'wings' wildly at Stitch, sending wave after wave at him. Stitch held up the greatsword and parried the onslaught, but he noticed each cutting wave leaving nicks and dents in the blade, which was quickly wearing out. "Even metal doesn't last long against me, Stitch!" Sword shouted, and he began walking forward as he unleashed his waves upon waves, pressing Stitch back against the wall. Finally, Stitch flung the greatsword forward and leapt away, dodging the attacks he could no longer block with the same blinding speed. The waves had put spin on the flying greatsword, but Sword kicked it away like it was nothing, and it flew into a pillar and snapped.

---

Both fighters were so focused on each other they did not notice the silhouetted figure watching from a skylight above. 627 pressed his bruised face against the window and stared. "There it is again," he said softly, his murderous eyes locked on Stitch. "That speed… I know Stitch's schematics. That's faster than Stitch can move… not much faster, but a little bit. There's nothing to explain that speed, and it was no fluke… it happened twice." 627 balled his paws into fists. "How did he do that? How can an Experiment exceed their limits? HOW?! First that Maverick kid, and now Stitch…" Even if he had noticed, 627 would never have acknowledged the tears streaming down his face. He blinked and vanished, a single tear on the skylight the only evidence he had ever been there.

---

"Watch out, Little Girl!" Jumba, having successfully freed himself, fired a plasma shot at Shield as he rolled toward Lilo. Shield had to swerve so the plasma would hit one of his spikes, and missed Lilo. Shield uncurled and pulled a sidewalk block loose, scowling at Jumba. He hurled the block of concrete like a discus, and Jumba had to dive to the ground so he wasn't beheaded. Jumba fired again, but Shield blocked again, increasing his physical strength even more.

"I love how you keep trying that plasma blaster, hoping that eventually it'll work!" Shield sneered, stalking toward Jumba. Lilo yelled and jumped Shield, but he swatted her away with his flat tail. He then charged forward and shoved forward with both hands. Jumba grabbed his hands and grappled with Shield, who shoved him back until Jumba's back was to a wall. Shield then grabbed Jumba by the shoulders and folded into a spiked wheel again, keeping his arms unfolded and clutching Jumba. The effect of this was that Shield basically transformed into a giant circular saw positioned millimeters from Jumba's nose. He began to spin, laughing.

"Leave Jumba ALONE!" Shield felt himself lifted into the air and thrown into a car he had previously wrecked. Before he could get up, Lilo jumped on him and began punching him in the stomach, yelling inocoherently. After four or five of Lilo's blows, Shield picked her up and tossed her away by the back of her now-torn and dirty muumuu, and she landed on her feet, breathing heavily and glaring at Shield.

The brute coughed, then began to laugh. "Those punches actually hurt a little!" he cackled. "I was hoping for a good fight!" He leapt off the car and brought a fist down on Lilo, but she created a telekinetic bubble around herself. A shallow crater appeared around her in the ground, but Shield never touched her. He growled and pounded the barrier some more, but was unable to burst it. "That's frustrating." He picked up the telekinetic bubble with Lilo inside, and punted it, sending Lilo flying about a block. He turned back to Jumba, but the evil genius was gone. "Where did chubby go?" Shield asked. Suddenly, Lilo and Stitch's dented buggy sideswiped him from behind, knocking him into a mud puddle.

Jumba drove the buggy back a few yards so he was facing down the recovering Shield. "I am being big-boned, thank you very much." He pressed a button, and the hood opened up to reveal a missile, which fired at Shield. Shield rolled toward Jumba and dodged the missile, sending it flying into another previously wrecked car and destroying it. He uncurled as he reached the buggy and picked it up with both hands, hurling it over his head.

Lilo had just recovered and was running toward Shield when the buggy and Jumba landed on their sides in front of her. Jumba groaned and undid the seat belt, flopping to the ground in front of Lilo. "Experiment H5 is being able to take exceeding amounts of punishment," he concluded. "I am only hoping he is not tireless, because stunning him may be impossible feat."

---

_I need another weapon, _Stitch thought as he darted behind a pillar, dodging a series of cutting waves from Sword. _What would be best?_

"If you aren't going to come out and face me like a warrior, Stitch, I'll just have to flush you out!" Sword crouched down, and Stitch noticed all six of his blades begin to glow. Sword then leapt into the air with a twirl, all six blades fully extended and flinging waves of energy everywhere. Stitch had to cling to the ground so that the wild waves wouldn't strike him through the pillar. When Sword fell back to the ground, he continued to spin on one foot in a perfect pirouette, a sadistic, demonic mockery of a ballerina. A few waves struck a Victorian chandelier replica from a previous gallery, popping its bulbs and sending sparks everywhere. Some caught on the various posters, banners, cardboard cutouts, and framed descriptions of the pieces, lighting several small fires throughout the room and banishing the relative dark. Sword suddenly stopped spinning and looked around the room. "You can't hide forever…"

"Who's hiding?" Stitch grabbed a huge halberd that was hung across the wall and took a giant leap forward, swinging it down at Sword. Sword casually blocked the axe head with a wing blade and snapped through the wooden handle with an arm blade. Stitch jumped back in alarm, but Sword chased him and slashed with his right arm. Stitch ducked under it and threw the headless handle. Sword sprang over his opponent (dodging the wooden pole) and tried to behead him with a kick-slash on the way down. Stitch tucked into a ball and rolled away, finding a long case full of throwing axes: two Germanic _francesca,_ a Native American _tomahawk_ and a similar African _Nzappa zap,_ a pair of medieval hurlbats and a Japanese _fuetsu_. The glass case was already shattered from a rogue cutting wave, but the axes were in good condition. Stitch extended his extra arms, grabbed the axes one after another, and began to throw them overhand.

"Too easy!" Sword used his arm blades to parry the axes, sending them ricocheting across the room. Stitch threw the last hurlbat underhand instead of overhand and leapt after it, curling into a ball. Sword parried the axe as he would another overhand, and the different rotation knocked him off-balance. He stumbled back, and Stitch's ball tackle hit him dead on, knocking him into a case of weapons and sending them flying into the air. Sword had remained surprisingly calm during the fight, but his expression now scared Stitch more than the most intense glare: it was a look of pure calm, bordering on nirvana; for Sword, a battle with a worthy opponent was obviously more relaxing than any other activity could ever be. "It appears I have underestimated you yet again, Stitch," he said quietly, dusting himself off, "but it also appears yet again you are unarmed against me."

_He's right,_ Stitch thought, the panic in his mind the antithesis of Sword's calm. _I keep losing the stupid weapons!_ Suddenly, the weapons Sword had accidentally knocked into the air completed their arc and fell, raining feudal Japanese weaponry all around Stitch. He grinned inwardly at his stroke of luck and scooped up a pair of katana for his upper arms, plus a shorter _wakizashi_ and a blade-catching _jitte _for his lower arms. Stitch brought the blades forward to point at Sword. "You have any more blades tucked away?"

**End of Chapte****r**

**Next Chapter: The end of the fight scene. Also, damage control.**


	15. Chapter 15

**avatarjk137: It might be 26 chapters after all. Chapter 17 is looking like it'll turn out extraordinarily long, so it might be seperated into two. Ah well, such things happen. Anyway, enjoy the end of the second major action sequence in Chapter 15!**

**Keoni: avatarjk137 does not own Lilo and Stitch, only Maverick and the H-series Experiments, and the contents of this story. If you're wondering why I'm not in this fic, it's because I serve no canonical purpose other than Lilo's love interest. This isn't a romance fic, people.**

**Chapter 15**

**It Takes Two to Tango**

"Very well," Sword said, still gripped by his eerie calm, "come. Come and get me." He held out his arm and wing blades in a ready position, and sank his ankle blades into the ground, planting himself.

"Don't mind if I do!" Stitch rushed Sword and immediately began stabbing at him with the katanas. Sword parried the blows and immediately began launching attacks of his own, and Stitch began parrying with the jitte and wakizashi as well. Soon their blades were moving faster than the human eye could see, a series of flashes and the _pings_ of blade on blade and a rain of sparks that added to the swirling flames. Every attack hastily deflected and countered, an endless series of parries, thrusts, and searching in vain for an opening. As the pace of the attacks sped up even further, the ability to completely block attacks vanished, and they began to injure each other ever so slightly. The tip of a blade would catch Stitch across the cheek here, a thin slice would appear across Sword's hip there, but the injuries were nothing compared to the effort the two expended keeping it up. Soon they both jumped away, nearly spent. "Don't tell me… you plan to win… with moves like _that_," Stitch panted.

"No…" Sword replied with a weak chuckle, "I planned to wear you down with moves like that." He suddenly straightened up and cupped a hand to his mouth. "Shield! Get over here so we can finish this!"

* * *

"Well, it's _about time!_" Shield looked at Lilo and Jumba, who had been trying to restrain him by each taking hold of one arm. Lilo had also telekinetically lifted a piece of sidewalk Shield had been nice enough to uproot and dropped it on Shield's tail to immobilize him. "This was fun, but…" Shield grinned and lifted both arms straight above his head, cracking Lilo and Jumba's skulls together. As they both lay dazed on the ground, he kicked the block of concrete off his tail with a grunt and curled into his wheel form, rolling through the hole in the museum wall and into the fire-lit room inside. "Brother, I _love_ what you've done with the place!" 

Stitch looked warily at Shield; he was now effectively flanked, caught almost exactly between Sword and Shield. He dashed to the wall and began to climb it, using pure momentum because his arms were all full. "Don't think so!" Sword jumped and landed above Stitch on the wall, feet-down; he had sunken his wing-blades deep into the wall to hold him in place. Stitch stopped and eyed Sword, clinging to the wall around the weapon handles with his lower two arms. Sword began stomping downward with his blades extended, forcing Stitch to block with the katana. "There's nowhere to run, Stitch, so fight with honor!"

"Where's the honor in two against one?" Stitch asked, noticing with a gulp that the katanas were pushed past their limit and wouldn't take much more abuse.

"Probably wherever the honor in your original two against three strategy was," Shield laughed, and he launched himself at Stitch, curling into a spinning wheel of destruction.

"Whoaaa!" Stitch jumped away and landed on a burning museum signpost, which collapsed under the additional weight and dropped him on his head. He rolled away from more cutting waves from Sword and another impact from Shield, and came up on his feet with his swords forward.

"So what's the plan, Sword?" Shield asked, coming to a stop just in front of Sword and obscuring his brother from Stitch's view.

"Tango Manuever," Sword responded without hesitation. Stitch could just see his antennae over Shield's massive shoulder.

"Tango, eh? I agree, we shouldn't mess around!" Shield transformed into a wheel again and rolled off to the side, and Sword immediately jumped forward and began viciously slashing at Stitch. Stitch dodged and attemped to counter, but if anything, Sword's assault had become even more vicious, and Stitch jumped away in retreat. He hadn't noticed Shield maneuvering behind him, but managed to bring up his katanas to block Shield's bone-shattering uppercut. Unfortunately, the punch was also steel-shattering, and Stitch was launched into the air with the katanas in a dozen pieces. "Time to tango!" Shield rolled across the room, and as Stitch reached the top of his arc, he saw that Shield had reached the place where Stitch was going to land.

Shield then began to do something strange; he dug the spike on his right forearm into the ground and transformed into his wheel state, spinning on the ground like a top. Sword leapt onto his rapidly rotating brother and balanced on his left-hand shield spike, which was sticking straight into the air. Now both Sword and Shield were spinning madly, and Stitch was beginning to fall toward them. _Is this supposed to finish me off?_ Stitch asked himself. _It doesn't seem too deadly._ Sword brought his wing blades almost straight up and his arm blades at an angle just above horizontal, and now he and Shield looked not like two separate organic creatures, but like a single set of gigantic blender blades, ready to frappe anything that should fall toward them. _Oh, now it makes sense. _Stitch made a mental checklist of everything he saw, anything that could help him defeat the two self-proclaimed 'ultimate soldiers', anything that could even save him from this finishing attack. Nothing came to mind, and Stitch was gripped by a chilling realization: _I'm not ready to die yet!_ he screamed inwardly as he plummeted toward the spinning blades.

Although Stitch's scream had been mental, it had been heard nonetheless. "I told you not to leave me yet, Stitch!" Lilo yelled as she jumped into the room. She immediately grabbed a chunk of concrete and threw it at Sword and Shield, striking Sword's shins not far from the spike he stood on, and Stitch noticed with delight that a slight wobble incorporated itself into their death spiral. "Jumba, now!" Lilo yelled.

"Are not having to be telling me more than once!" Jumba had appeared, like Lilo and Shield before him, from the hole created by Sword and Stitch's grand entrance. Unlike the others, he still carried a plasma blaster and he didn't hesitate to unload a shot into Sword's ankles, shattering the already-cracked armor plates on Sword's shin. The attack threw Sword and Shield into a spin far more like a drunk on a merry-go-round than a death machine.

"YEAH!" Stitch yelled in elation. Not only could he now dodge their attack, but Sword was left wide open to an attack of his own. He clenched the _jitte_ in his upper pair of arms and slammed it down, catching Sword's wing blades and pinning them together between the weapon's tines.

"How _dare _you!" Sword yelled, his calm state broken by Stitch's audacity in keeping him from using his largest and strongest blades. He slashed wildly at Stitch with his arms, and both of them jumped off of Shield, flipping and landing yards from each other. Unfortunately, Sword's normally perfect balance was thrown off-kilter from two of his limbs being effectively cuffed together, and he landed hard on his already abused ankle, twisting it badly. Stitch, on the other hand, landed perfectly, clutching his remaining weapon: the _wakizashi_, a Japanese short sword. He wasted no time in charging toward Sword. "Fine then. Have at thee!" Sword charged at Stitch himself, but his bad ankle caused him to stumble as he threw a pair of horizontal sword waves at Stitch. Stitch easily jumped between the clumsy attack and ran past Sword, slashing a deep gouge in his abdomen.

Sword stared dumbly at the deep, bleeding wound in his chest. "Turnabout is fair plaaay…" Stitch half-sang, happy to have finally turned the tables instead. Sword began to reply, but collapsed on the ground instead, holding the wound as he began to lose consciousness.

"BROTHER!" Shield broke away from Lilo, who had been keeping him from protecting Sword, and roared past his 'brother' Experiment's lithe form, grabbing him and pulling him along for the ride. Shield rolled behind a display case full of bayonets and gently deposited his brother. "Hang on," Shield said to him with a confident, reassuring grin. "Just some trash to sweep into the dustpan." He jumped over the bayonet case and nearly crushed Jumba, who had been trying to stealthily approach. He picked up the self-styled evil genius in one hand and pitched him into Lilo, only for Stitch to smash him back into the display case with a brutal punch to the stomach (apparently Stitch had been hiding in Jumba's shadow). Shield hastily righted the case and glared at Stitch. "You must really have a death wish, punk."

"You must want your brother to bleed to death, picking a three-against-one fight while he just lays there without help," Stitch replied calmly. Shield narrowed his glowing yellow eyes and said nothing. "We're not bad people, Shield. We'd be more than happy to help your brother, not to mention you. First, though, you have to stop attacking us." Shield sighed and dropped his arms, and Stitch tossed away the sword in relief. He then looked around the still-burning gallery as if seeing it for the first time. "Chubi chipa!" he muttered in surprise. "We destroyed this entire room!"

"If you think that's destruction," Shield chuckled as he grabbed the now-totally-unconscious Sword, "take another look _outside_. Sword and I were told to wreck stuff once we were both active."

"Told? By who?" Lilo asked as they walked outside, Jumba motioning for Shield to bring Sword over to the dented, dirty, scratched buggy.

"It was programmed into us, so I'd say Hamsterviel…" Shield seemed to be struggling inwardly for a moment, "…And 627," he finished truthfully.

"Wound is almost certainly not being fatal," Jumba concluded. "He will be making it back to our lab." He looked around. "Damage caused was on evil genius level. We should be calling intimidating human in suit before convenient concert lets out and entire island is noticing damage."

"Good idea," Lilo said. "I'll call him on the way back."

* * *

Lilo heard Cobra sigh over the cell phone. "A few city blocks I could replace," he said, frustration leaking through his cool demeanor. "That gallery will be more of an issue." Now Lilo could hear Cobra going through some papers, no doubt deciding on the best course of action. 

"You should get some Experiments to help with repairs if you need a rush job," Lilo said. "Now that Heat's orb is healed, he finally got a job as a welder with Harder construction."

"That's just what I was thinking. I'll get Felix and the construction Experiments down there and start repairs immediately, but I still have to figure out how to replace a priceless museum collection."

"Why not just use Pasthole and Futurehole to undo the damage?"

"It's actually on my contract that I can't use time travel for damage control purposes, but that would've been a good idea." The shuffling noises stopped. "I'll clean up the stuff farthest from the museum, add some fake damage of our own nearer the museum, and say there was an explosion of trapped volcanic gasses. It'll have to do. You sure the two Experiments have been reformed? With all the destruction they've caused so far, a relapse is obvious trouble."

"I'm sure they'll be fine," Lilo said. "It felt kind of good to track down and stop Experiments again."

"Don't get used to it," Cobra said. "Hopefully there's only the two of them."

"Six."

"What?" Cobra and Lilo asked at the same time.

"There are six of us in total," Shield said. "I don't think there will be any more, but I'm pretty sure Hamsterviel will send the rest soon." He had been right next to his brother the entire time, keeping a close eye on him, checking his pulse, and so on. He seemed genuinely worried. In truth, he hadn't even looked toward Lilo when he told her about the others.

Lilo relayed what Shield had said to Cobra. "That's good to know," he replied. "I'm sure you'll be able to deal with the other four if and when you have to. I've got to deal with damage control now. Goodbye."

"Bye," Lilo said, but she was fairly sure he had already hung up. They had reached Lilo's house now, and Jumba was motioning for Stitch and Shield to carry Sword the remaining distance to the ship, where Jumba could properly bandage him up. "It's been a while since we destroyed a third of the town," she said cheerfully.

"Two thirds," a familiar voice said from behind them and to the right. Lilo turned to see Maverick slumped against a palm tree, bleeding slightly on it. His fur was caked in drying blood, mostly his, and he was massaging his leg. "I got attacked by a really _nice_ guy on the other side of town," he continued, his face a battle of several negative emotions.

"Who hurt you like that?" Stitch asked, his eyes wide.

"The jerk called himself 627," Maverick said, hauling himself to his feet. Lilo ran over and helped him over to the ship. "He's really strong. And _really_ crazy."

"Tell me about it," Stitch laughed. Then his smile faded. "Wait, you fought him? And you're still alive! That's impressive."

"Just barely. Why? You fought the freak before?" he asked, as they stepped into the ship.

"Ih, twice. And I beat him. Twice." Stitch grinned proudly.

"Yeah, but you haven't been able to beat him in the regular way," Lilo reminded him, wiping the smile from his face.

"So why the hell would you make an Experiment like that, Jumba?" Maverick snapped, sitting down roughly on a cot.

"Was trying to teach Stitch a lesson, and I… overperformed," Jumba said. "Now, be holding still. This will be helping with your wounds." Jumba poked Maverick's neck with a wand of sorts, and Maverick collapsed unconscious almost instantly onto the cot.

"How will knocking Maverick out help with his wounds?" Stitch asked as he and Shield lowered Sword onto another cot.

"Well, it will be helping me deal with him," Jumba chuckled.

**End of Chapter**

**I credit myself as being the first to come up with a function for the Experiments Pasthole and Futurehole. I'm guessing that together, they can be used to time-travel and fix mistakes... or create them. Of course, if they go back too far they can butterfly-effect. Also, the name Harder construction comes from Mr. Harder, my 8th grade teacher, who actually ran a construction company in Hawaii at one time. Different company name, I think, but it's there.**

**Next chapter: 627 attempts to deal with reality, and we check back in with our friend Leroy.**


	16. Chapter 16

**avatar: This chapter came quickly, partially because I had written the Leroy scenes beforehand. The main scene was written more or less in one sitting. Hopefully, it's not a sloppy rush job.**

**Pleakley: This chapter is full of villains, and this made it easier for you to write! I think you should be more concerned with that than whether it's a rush job!**

**avatar: Would you do a rush job on cleaning the house? No you wouldn't. Now do the disclaimer.**

**Pleakley: Fine! avatarjk137 doesn't own Lilo and Stitch. He only owns Maverick and the nameless prison guard who shows up in this chapter.**

**avatar: That, and the contents of this story. _Bon appetit_.**

**Chapter 16**

**Over Limit**

Hamsterviel looked at the wall clock mounted over the door of the base's hangar bay. 627 should've been back an hour ago, according to his reports before engaging 628. What was taking him? Was it possible for him to lose? Hamsterviel dismissed the thought. Destroying Experiment 627 was like destroying 'hope' or 'love' or 'freedom' - a dream Hamsterviel would never attain. Understanding any of those things was about as hard for him. Suddenly, Hamsterviel's large, sensitive ears picked up the distinctive noise of a powerful small ship coming down the tunnel, jerking him out of his thoughts... and into angrier thoughts. _That must be him,_ Hamsteviel decided. _The GF doesn't use engines like that on a ship small enough to come down this tunnel. It's about time that lunatic got here!_

Sure enough, the ship slid easily through the narrow barriers hiding the base and cruised to a stop, touching down in front of Hamsterviel. A hatch opened in the side, and 627 didn't walk out of the vehicle so much as fall from the hatch face-first, landing on the floor with a splat. He was covered in sand, dirt, Maverick's blood, and a touch of his own. His fur was still mostly damp and very briny from the impromptu dip in the warm Hawaiian water. He was trembling as he got up on his paws and knees, but not from cold, and his head was down.

"I suppose you stopped to destroy another city, or maybe kill a busful of orphans?" Hamsterviel asked sharply. "627, did you at least make sure H4 and H5 did their job? Did you kill 628? WELL, you massive-foreheaded, unnecessarily-high-quantity-of-appendaged, criminally-insane, mutated blight upon nature?!"

Hamsterviel's bluster vanished like a pleasant dream when 627 finally looked up at him. The bizarre façade of sophistication that 627 usually wore on his face was gone, along with any semblance of self-realization. The tear-streaked face that Hamsterviel now beheld was that of a wild beast; a beast, Hamsterviel knew all too well, that could kill him and almost anything else it found in the space of a heartbeat. The trembling of 627's body intensified to wild shaking, and 627's eyes began twitching, causing him to dip in and out of visibility as he used Houdini's power uncontrollably. Hamsterviel's heart nearly stopped when 627 leapt into the air and disappeared in midair. Seconds later, the gerbil-like alien let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding in when 627 plowed not into him, but a battered space rod behind him. He turned around, not finished sighing in relief, when the craft exploded, hurling him back.

Hamsterviel sat up, shielding his eyes from shrapnel with his arm, and noticed 627 leap into the air again, jumping from the burning vehicle. "What are you doing?!" he cried, but 627 couldn't hear him, and wouldn't have listened anyway. The maddened Experiment was now only visible by the corona of burning fuel he had managed to coat himself in as he plowed into another cruiser, detonating this one as well. 627 leapt from ship to ship, destroying them one by one, sometimes hurling bursts of lightning, optic lasers, or fiery spheres of plasma. Sometimes he'd even stretch his hand out, pick up a vehicle, and slam it into another, destroying both. Hamsterviel backed up in raw terror against the stealth ship 627 had arrived in, the only one still intact. 627 emerged from the roaring flames surging unchecked across the lot, stumbling and walking irregularly, a huge, jagged metal beam clutched in his hand. He pulled back his arm, aiming the makeshift javelin to spear through Hamsterviel and strike the fuel tank of his favorite cruiser. "627!" Hamsterviel screamed shrilly. "Come to your senses, I'm begging you!"

627 suddenly snapped his head up, and the feral gleam in his eyes dimmed. The jagged beam dropped from his hand and rolled away forgotten. He took a few steps forward, and fell back to his knees, sobbing and babbling. Hamsterviel took a hesitant step forward, not the least bit sure that the mood change had made 627 any safer to approach. "627? Wha-what happened to you?"

627 responded with a stream of half-screamed, half-mumbled syllables, of which "The strongest, the strongest," was the only discernable part.

"What? What do you mean?" Hamsterviel yelled, quickly becoming frustrated with this. "What about the strongest?"

"I was programmed…" 627 gasped, managing to speak in discernable sentences now, "programmed to be the strongest. Nothing is supposed to be stronger than me. Stitch beats me once, fine, that can be a fluke. Stitch beats me twice, maybe that could still be a fluke. But then this Maverick guy shows up and beats me, and I'm throwing just about everything I have at him… that means I'm not the strongest. It's no fluke. But… but I have to be the strongest… but I'm not…" he began to spasm again, and Hamsterviel shook him.

"No!" Hamsterviel yelled in alarm. "No more of the freaking out and destroying our equipment and possibly getting us discovered!" _Gantu failed a lot, but at least he had reasonable responses when he did. If every failure will produce a mental breakdown, 627 is an even worse partner than I thought he would be._ "Listen, 627." He was still quivering a bit. "LISTEN TO ME, YOU BLOCKHEAD! If you are not the strongest, then just practice until you're the strongest again!"

627 instantly calmed down. "Practice… practice? But, I'm an Experiment. I'm always at the top of my game? How can I strengthen myself when I am always at a set 100 percent?" Hamsterviel was treated to 627's jaw dropping as something apparently massive occurred to him. "Okay, no worries. I see now… I can do it." He began to calm down, and Hamsterviel nervously backed up.

"So 628 is still alive," Hamsterviel sneered. "What did you find out about him?"

"He calls himself Maverick," 627 said, wiping his face. He then used his ice breath to begin putting out the fires around them. "He was pretty fast, and not bad on strength either. He seemed to have some powers dealing with energy manipulation, technology manipulation, and precognition." By now he had extended his second head to extinguish the flames while the first head talked. "He got angry quickly."

"Could we manipulate him?" Hamsterviel asked.

"Doubtful. I've kinda gotten off on the wrong foot with him."

"Well, how did the rest of the mission go?"

"Without a hitch!" 627 laughed, all his emotional distress apparently gone without a trace. "H4 and H5 were soundly defeated. They go by Sword and Shield now. And even they have no idea that their attack was just bait for the final phase of the trap. Tomorrow I'll return to Earth, and take up a holding position until everything's ready."

"Goooood," Hamsterviel said with a grin. "Jumba never truly understood the value of not having one perfect Experiment, but rather a team of great Experiments which are perfect in unison. Six Experiments, perfect soldiers with flawless teamwork…"

"That is the power of the H-series," 627 nodded. "Together, they'll eliminate any threats they come across, and I'll set the bomb. Earth will be a lifeless husk," he concluded, a serene grin on his face as he contemplated wiping out an entire planet's populaton. He then looked down. "Hamsterviel, I'm going to the lab. To… give myself a checkup."

"Okay," Hamsterviel said suspiciously. _I'm pretty sure Experiments don't need checkups._ "Clean any equipment you use afterward."

627 walked out of the hangar, with its cooling hulks of destroyed spaceships, and worked his way through a winding hallway into a lab. He immediately programmed a walk-in scanner to take a detailed cross-section of his brain, stepped in to let the scan take place, and then jumped out again, awaiting the results. He rushed to the computer monitor as soon as they appeared there. _Everything appears normal… well, normal for my two brains. But that can't be right. I know he made a fundamental change… THERE!_ He was staring at an area on the right side of his cerebrum that didn't light up with the rest of his brain. He pulled up and image of the brain in the head he usually kept retracted, and sure enough, there it was again. This brain had it on the left side; unsurprising, since they mirrored each other.

"There," he whispered. "That's what I need." He pulled up an image of his own current DNA, followed by an earlier sample of his DNA from when he was first created. There was a small discrepancy in the DNA. He pulled up a fifth picture, a simple computer rendering of his own body, and juxtaposed them all on the monitor. Then he clicked on the strange area of his brain that didn't light up properly. _What would happen if this were to expand?_ He used the keyboard to expand the anomaly from the current area of his brain – a center which dictated how his mind reacted to stimuli – into an area that controlled his motor skills and conscious muscle movement, as well as most of his powers. He watched as the computer mockup of his current DNA twisted and coiled, and grinned when he saw the effect on the mockup of his body.

_This is just what I need._ He pulled wires, cables, syringes and diodes from all around the bay, seemingly at random, and stabbed them with reckless abandon into his own body and brain. _It's time to play my own little game of God. _627 clicked on a function that would perform the proposed edits, navigated through a sea of warning messages that told him not to, and clicked 'APPLY'. To his credit, he never screamed even once.

* * *

"Nine hundred ninety-nine… One thousand." Leroy finished doing his crunches, which he did as his feet clung to the ceiling of his cell. He flipped easily to the ground to look around his cell. Ever since he had started breaking up the shower room fights he was present for, a very confused warden had had no choice but to make it official: Leroy was the best-behaved prisoner in the prison. This title allowed him to furnish his cell (of course, the furniture was always checked beforehand to ensure it did not contain anything that would allow him to escape). He had chosen an eclectic collection: a newspaper archive of the last five years, a textbook with which to learn English (a.k.a. Galactic Standard), and a variety of exercise equipment, including swordsmanship-training equipment and a machine designed to measure how much he could lift. 

Leroy could worry about something like a more comfortable cot later. He had specific things in mind. He looked around the walls, where he had posted all the articles he had obtained on Jumba, Lilo, and the Experiments. The articles covered an entire wall, as did the door to his cell (actually an advanced laser barrier).

The other two walls he had decorated much earlier, when he had first arrived in the prison and had had a bit of an identity crisis over having been cloned 2,000 times (and being no more than a modified clone himself). They were covered with claw marks that had slashed out the word 'Unique' in Turian over and over… and over. It had a bit of an asylum affect. Leroy swore inwardly that he would not let himself fall so far into insanity again. He then wondered how slim the chances were that he would keep his oath, and followed that by briefly considering how mad he already must be. He concluded that his mind wasn't equipped to calculate sanity, and laughed.

"Hey mongrel!" Leroy turned enough to notice the prison guard pass a bowl of what could generously be described as disgusting food through the one-way barrier. "Meal time!" Leroy grunted his acknowledgement, and turned to a punching bag, which he began to pummel rapidly with all four arms, nearly shaking the entire cell. The guard continued to watch through his beady orange eyes as Leroy began to punch even harder and faster. "I don't see how the warden let you have all this," the guard sneered. "Even if you can't escape, we don't need you to be even more lethal when your term ends. It's a long term, though, so I guess it won't be my problem, or even my grandchildren's."

"I'm working out," Leroy said evenly as he continued to punch, "because I want to join the GF as a soldier when I get out."

"Bwa ha ha ha!" The guard chortled. "Like that'll happen!"

Leroy reared back and slammed four palms into the bag, splitting it open and tearing it off its chain. Leroy stared at the bag laying on the ground, leaking sand from a desert planet. "Yeah," he mumbled, "I suppose there may be another government in charge by the time my sentence is over." He turned and grinned inwardly at the guard, who didn't look too comfortable with Leroy's statement. "Tell the warden I need another new punching bag."

"Already?! Didn't you just destroy the last one yesterday?!" The guard moved to the next cell, mumbling about how the bags were advertised as indestructible. Leroy dumped the entire bowl of gruel into his mouth, and moved onto the next and last part of his workout: the strength tester. He set it to begin at 2990 times his weight and increase by one every other second, and hit the start button. Immediately, a block dropped from above him, and Leroy caught it easily in all four arms. "2990… 2991… 2992… 2993…" Leroy counted calmly as he watched it count upward. As it neared 3000, he settled into his strongest stance and braced himself.

"2999… 3000!" Leroy mentally mirrored the bracing motions he had already made physically. He could stop the machine now with a word, but he wasn't going to. If he ever met Stitch again, he would defeat him, and the only way to do so would be to push the limits built into his body until either limits or body were shattered for good. "3001…" Leroy's body was suddenly awash with dull pain, and his knees began to buckle. Leroy forced them to straighten and gritted his teeth. "3002…" The pain was extreme now, and a normal creature would scream. But Leroy was no normal creature, would not allow himself to ever be a normal creature.

"3003…" Leroy growled. The word pain was no longer properly descriptive for the excruciating feeling he was receiving from every nerve ending on his body. He clenched his teeth so hard his gums started to bleed and held the weight up. "3004…" Leroy's finely tuned ears heard a series of quiet bursts as capillaries all through his small body began to pop, spreading pink blood through his system. Leroy's mind was almost too wracked with pain to remember what number came next.

"Three… thousand… five…" Suddenly, the pain left, washing away in the blink of an eye. Where there had been white-hot agony, there was cold, black numbness. Leroy sighed in relief as pink blood trickled from his nose and mouth. Suddenly, the machine blinked to 3006 and crushed Leroy to the ground like a house of cards. The sudden drop automatically turned the machine off as a safety measure, and the weight lifted, leaving Leroy crushed to the ground.

Five minutes later, the exhausted Experiment was able to wipe the blood from his face and get shakily to his knees. A bit more blood trickled from his outer ears and eyelids, where a few more capillaries had burst, and dripped into the puddle forming where Leroy's face had been. He crawled over to the cot and pulled himself onto it with sheer force of will. With Leroy's rate of healing, he would be all healed up and ready to work out again in eight hours, twelve at the most. Besides, the sheer exhaustion he had created in himself made it easier to sleep in the lumpy, hard prison cot.

"Tomorrow," Leroy whispered as sleep overtook him and shut his bloody eyes, "I will stand at 3007."

**End of Chapter**

**I'm hoping you enjoyed this chapter. Next week, we have a time skip of a week, and then we'll check in on how everybody's doing. If there's time, we might have a flashback.**


	17. Chapter 17

**avatar: Here's Chapter 17! There's a one-week time skip between this chapter and the last one, in case you don't catch the quick pointing out of it. I'm not too confident in this chapter, but hopefully it's as good as the others.**

**Maverick: Shut up. You've worried like this several times before, and it always worked out. Avatarjk137 does not own Lilo and Stitch. He owns me, all Omnitaurian characters, the H-series Experiments, and the contents of this story. And that's it.**

**avatar: real motivational speaker, ain't he?**

**Chapter 17**

**Failure To Comply**

"I've gone through an incredible amount of trouble for the sake of you two, hiding damage, making official apologies, creating forgeries of one-of-a-kind weapons that were destroyed, and now making a truckload of false documentation." Cobra paused, massaging his forehead as he recalled the extreme measures he'd taken. "I called in almost every favor I had coming to me. So naturally I'll be extremely frustrated if this opportunity I worked so hard to provide is squandered. I want to hear that you are on your best behavior. Am I clear?"

"Crystal, sir!" Sword and Shield shouted in unison. Cobra allowed himself a tiny smile; they really had been programmed as soldiers, acting perfectly on any command without complaint since Sword regained consciousness. Still, that was a downside. There was no application around the island for soldiers, and Experiments could hardly be recognized as part of the U.S. Army or anything else.

Luckily, Lilo had come up with an idea, as she always did. Sword and Shield both had human disguises that were nearly foolproof; only a powerful system shock would cause them to revert to their true forms. Sword further assured them that the disguises could age at normal speed. Given the apparent age of the disguises, Lilo suggested to enroll them in the high school as freshmen for the coming school year. By the time they graduated, they would know enough of Earth's culture that they could join whatever military they wanted to without arousing suspicion. Cobra had decided it was as good a plan as any, and spent most of the week since their defeat creating false identities for the two. He would be finished well before school began. "Good. Now, I'd like to see your human forms so I can take photographs. I need to make sure all the fake information on you matches up."

"Right," Sword nodded, changing into his human form. The marks on the sides of his face had become slightly less distinguished as he refined the form. Shield had created a human form as well, and like their Experiment forms, he was as tall as Sword and about three times as wide. The same skin and hair color as Sword's disguise allowed them to pass as fraternal twins. His own hair appeared gelled and pulled back, like he was facing into a high wind. He wore a black T-shirt advertising 'Generic Band', a pair of faded jeans, and black sneakers. A scar-like mark crossed his forehead just over his brow-line; like Sword, this was an indicator of where an armor plate was located in his Experiment form. The two decided to say they were scars from practicing sword techniques at Kixx's Dojo: they had met most of the Experiments in the last week, and actually had joined the dojo right away.

"Excellent. Now hold still." Cobra wasted no time in taking a few snapshots of each, and put the tiny camera away. "Unless there are any further needs for me, I'll be leaving."

"Actually," Jumba interrupted, "628 was saying you were supposed to be telling me your impressions after talking to him."

"Oh, right," Cobra said, "the Grand Councilwoman wanted me to give an opinion on his mental stability." Cobra paused for a moment to collect his thoughts. Although Maverick had supposedly been making an effort to learn to watch what he said, he still came off as brash and rude, and he had a short fuse. Cobra was hoping Lilo and her ohana would rub off on him a bit more. "Tell him I want him to stay here for three more days, and then I'll come see him again. I'll be in touch." Cobra left Jumba's ship for what he didn't know was the last time, and got into a black Ford, driving away toward the main road.

* * *

The woman was young, pretty, fair-haired, and enjoying the Hawaiian vacation she had won in her small hometown's local lottery. The luau she was at was the most fun she'd had in years, and tomorrow was shaping up to be even better. Now, however, she was a bit tired, and she sat at a picnic table as the party died down, sipping a piňa colada and looking at the stars, a pair of lei still hanging around her neck.

A shadow stretching over her made her turn around. A dark-eyed, muscular man with red hair was standing over her. "Hey, baby, I'm from outer space. Want to go on a ride on my spaceship?"

The woman laughed. She was pretty sure the pick-up line had come from a book, but she admired his directness, and he was handsome, with a winning smile. "Yeah, sure." She finished her drink in two sips and left it behind, as he winked at her and led her off. Surprisingly, he led her into the dense Kaua'i underbrush. "Where are we going?"

"To see my ship, of course," the man replied. She shrugged and simply let him lead her for another hundred feet or so, where they emerged in a clearing. "Here we are."

"Here we are where?" The man pressed a button on what appeared to be a wristwatch, and a looming form shimmered into view, a black-and-red piece of futuristic machinery about thirty feet long that couldn't possibly be identified as something other than a spaceship. "Oh, wow… you really have a spaceship!" She turned to the man in wonder, only to have that wonder replaced with an explosion of pain. It was too painful even to cry out, and she could only fall to her knees.

"Humans are no challenge at all." The man shimmered and disappeared, replaced with a small, red-orange creature clutching a bloody mess in its hand. 627 grinned and held up the viscera. "Look at this. Less than three minutes, and I've stolen your heart." The woman, gasping for breath as her vision began to go dark, looked further down. The last thing she saw was the bloodstained hole in her chest, before she collapsed. 627 tossed the heart in the air and caught it in his jaws, chewing and swallowing with obvious relish. Then he looked at the woman's fresh corpse and frowned. _She's skinnier than I thought._ He sighed and picked her up, carrying her easily toward the spaceship. _Looks like I've got dinner and breakfast, but I'll have to have something else for lunch tomorrow.

* * *

_

Maverick stared up at the stars. _I waited all my life before I got up there. Three more days won't be so bad._ He sighed, and took another sip of the carton of juice he'd snagged from the house's fridge. His sensitive ears picked up the sound of claws clicking against metal, and soon Stitch's face peeked up over the red, smooth surface. Maverick suppressed a wave of annoyance; he had specifically chosen to sit and think atop Jumba's spaceship so he would be alone. Even though he suppressed it, Maverick's spines still flashed from green to orange long enough for Stitch to get the hint and begin to climb down. "Wait," Maverick said quietly, "You can stay if you want to."

Stitch reluctantly climbed up and sat down a few feet from Maverick. "What's up?"

"Just looking at the stars."

"Beautiful, aren't they?"

"More so on Omnitaurus. Pollution's about zero, remember?"

"Right." Stitch pulled out a bottle of an iced coffee drink he was trying out, took a swig, concluded it was awful, and continued to drink it anyway. Maverick took another sip of his juice carton. "Sword and Shield have gone to Angel's place," Stitch reported. "Cobra says he's going to buy them their own place eventually."

"Mmm." They sat in silence for another minute, before Maverick spoke up again. "Stitch?"

"Ih?"

"What is love?" Maverick was still staring into the sky.

Stitch was a bit surprised. "Why are you asking me?"

"Why not? You're a pretty cool frood, Stitch, you always seem to know what you're doing. Do you have an answer or what?"

"Love is…" Stitch thought for a moment. "Love is when you care about somebody, when you want to protect them because you don't want anything bad to happen to them, and when you can't imagine what could make you stop feeling that way about somebody. It doesn't matter if it's romantic, family, friendship, or anything else."

"I see… do you love Lilo?"

"Well, not romantically, but I love her as a best friend, and sort of as a sister."

"What about Angel?" Maverick had met Angel a few days ago and noticed the obvious chemistry between them. He had also noticed the issues they were having, arguing that persisted through the chemistry.

"I do love her," Stitch sighed. "She's my buchie-boo. But we keep having problems, we're always bickering. Action in our lives always brings us together; stagnation pushes us apart. But, every relationship has its problems, I guess. Why the question all of a sudden?"

Maverick blinked back some tears. "I don't think I've ever felt love."

Stitch actually laughed before he had fully processed the words. "Don't be ridiculous! Of course you have! Look, you grew up as an Omnitaurian, right? What about your parents? Didn't they love you?"

"Probably," Maverick mumbled. "Of course, they were always trying to change me and my 'radical' opinions. I don't know if they loved me, but I sure didn't love them. They couldn't accept me for who I was."

"Well, they were probably just doing what they thought was best for you," Stitch said.

"I _hated _my parents," Maverick insisted, and Stitch decided to try another tactic.

"Well, what about your friends in school?"

"Dinky little Omnitaurian schoolhouse," Maverick spat. "I had no friends. I was the small, crazy kid. The one who makes no friends, has no physical aptitude, who does merely okay in his classes. I had dinky little horns, too. The only time I really felt at home was in the class, when I was giving one of my little speeches and totally getting the teachers steamed. The other kids were receptive to my views, I could see them looking at me with respect, listening to what I had to say. Not that those speeches ever lasted long before the teachers shut me up."

"Well, that just backs up what I had to say about your parents," Stitch pointed out. "Sometimes you have to choose between your ideals and being happy."

"It was _my _choice to make, not my parents'," Maverick snarled, his spines bright red now.

"I'm sure you've got some people you truly care about," Stitch prodded.

"Shut up. Who asked you anyway?!" Maverick suddenly jumped off the spaceship's curving surface, and his jets flared to life, carrying him off into the night. Maverick had spent much of his past week practicing flight control and sparring with Stitch, and had more or less mastered the jets on his feet. Stitch had been happy enough for a challenging fight on a regular basis, too.

Now, however, Stitch was fed up with Maverick. "Fine then!" he yelled. "Who needs you?!" He grabbed Maverick's empty juice box, and threw it into his mouth. "Nala queesta…" he mumbled between chews.

* * *

_Experiment 628 was running. He was running from his past, and running toward his future. At least, that's how he saw it. He was trying to concentrate on his destination, and not the fact that he had an entirely different body than the one he woke up in. At least the new body was strong, fast, and didn't tire out as quick as his old one: he'd just run continuously from the next town over to the capital city's spaceport. He was running faster than his old body ever would, despite the fact that this form's legs were a third the length his old legs had been. But now wasn't the time to compare and contrast. A figure stepped in front of him, blocking his way, and he skidded to a halt._

_"Identify yourself!" The figure barked. It was an Omnitaur, not surprising since this was their planet. From what he'd said, it wasn't surprising that he was also a police officer, indicated by the blue-white cloak he wore, shining in the starlight. A sergeant, 628 noted from the dagger at his belt. On Omnitaurus, rank of the police could be noted by their armament. Patrolmen were expected to do with the police's martial arts training to apprehend criminals. Sergeants were trained to use daggers, as were lieutenants. On Omnitaurus, green signified leadership, so the blue bracers of the police uniform became green on lieutenant rank or higher. Captains, the highest rank, were given longsword training, and also given the option to keep their daggers for their off-hand._

_"I'm nobody!" 628 yelled. "And I'm going to the spaceport, so I'll never bother you again. Let me pass!"_

_"Negative," the sergeant answered with a scowl. "I've heard reports that an alien fitting your description may have abducted a child in Dharlan. I'm going to have to take you in for questioning."_

_628 swore inwardly as the policeman advanced. There was an old saying that was true on any planet. The Omnitaurian version went, 'Bad news travels faster than light.' They'd obviously heard a warped version of what had happened at home. He gathered his strength into his legs, and leapt straight over the police officer, landing lightly on the other side. "Bye!" he yelled._

_"Holy turf!" The policeman turned around. "Get BACK here!" He pressed his hands together, and a glowing ball of energy appeared. He pushed the ball forward, and it rocketed into 628, slamming him in the back. Any Omnitaurian had the ability to gather the energy into their palms and fire it as a lightly destructive blast, but it required training. The police and professional fighters were the only ones who learned the ability these days._

_"Ow… wait… it doesn't hurt!" 628 got to his feet. "Why doesn't it hurt?" Energy crackled along his body_. There was that same weird sense that I was going to get hit. I ignored it, and I really did get hit. But I absorbed the blow. I wonder…_ he cupped his upper pair of hands together, and pointed at the sergeant in a rough approximation of the attack he'd used. Instead of a white glowing sphere, bolts of blue lightning speared forth from his fingertips, shocking the sergeant and throwing him back. "That was different," 628 muttered._

_The policeman struggled to his hooves and cupped his hands to his mouth. "I've found the perp!" He shouted at the top of his lungs. "Small, white alien headed for the spaceport!"_

"_OH BLITZ!" 628 turned back toward the spaceport and ran as fast as his short legs would carry him. The large collection of buildings loomed up in front of him, and he noticed a nearby hangar. A ship roughly one hundred yards long, brightly painted in blues and reds, sat next to the hangar. It was wider at the front, like a battering ram, but four wings spread out and back from the front end. In bold black Omnitaurian lettering it was marked as _The Protest_. A crew of strangely dressed Omnitaurs was loading items from the hangar into the ship. _Maybe I could escape on that

"_STOP! In the name of Omnitaurus!" The voice made 628's blood run cold. While he'd been admiring a spaceship for the first time in his life, and weighing his options, over a dozen officers had nearly surrounded him, including a captain, who was striding forward with his longsword drawn._

"_You… you don't know anything about 'in the name of Omnitaurus'!" 628 yelled angrily. He'd had enough of his people's ignorance. As he backed away from the advancing police captain, his black fur and blue cloak fluttering in the wind, he bumped into a large battery charger for spaceship batteries. He screamed, more in shock than pain, as parts of the device tore themselves free from the larger machine and began to reform, fusing to his spine. "What the hell?" 628 muttered, looking over his shoulder at the ovoid machina now resting comfortably on his back. He turned back to the still-advancing captain_. I need to stun this idiot so I can escape..._ suddenly, he noticed a temperature drop around him. The already-cool night air began to sparkle as diamond dust formed, and he felt the same energy coursing through his body. _The thing on my back is giving me energy from the air, _he realized._

"_I'm giving you one last chance to go quietly," the captain said evenly, not noticing the diamond dust or the sparks beginning to form around Maverick. Suddenly, one of his lieutenants muttered in his ear, jamming a thumb over at the spaceship crew. The captain grinned. "Excellent, we came for one criminal, but we can collect over a dozen. Apprehend this one first."_

"_Men, they've spotted us!" one of the Omnitaurs at the ship yelled. "Break off and escape!" The Omnitaurs stopped running into the hangar and picking up materials, and all began boarding the ship. "Let's go! Go!"_

"_What? Wait!" 628 watched as the ship's engines flared to life and it began to lift from the ground, the hatch still open as the last Omnitaur climbed in. A few patrolmen hurled energy balls at the hatch, but the Omnitaur inside dodged them and responded with fire from a plasma rifle. "I've gotta get on that!" He let the electricity launch from his fingertips again, and the bolt traced a forked path to the captain's sword, shattering it. He jumped up, landing on a patrolman's head, and jumped to a lieutenant's back, him being the closest to the ship. The spaceship had risen about fifteen feet into the air now, and he jumped from the lieutenant's back with all the strength he could gather, targeting above the hatch to compensate for the ship moving upward._

"_The hell?" He could see now that it was a female Omnitaur shooting at the police. She calmly swung her plasma rifle upward and blasted 628 with a green sphere, expecting to be rid of him._

"_No!" 628 coughed out as the plasma smacked his gut. It didn't hurt him, but it did knock him back downward_. I've got to get in…_ he focused the absorbed plasma to the soles of his feet and blasted himself up and forward, rocketing over the Omnitaur into the ship._

"_That was a fun surprise," the woman muttered as she turned around. "Hey cappytan, we've got a stowaway onboard. He's got a mean jump, and he can really take a plasma bullet."_

"_I saw, Kherris," a male Omnitaur replied. "We all saw. There were maybe six of us right here. Calder, restrain him." Before 628 could get a word in edgewise, he found a particularly large Omnitaur behind him press him down in some sort of hold that managed to restrain six limbs with four. As Calder pressed down, the huge collection of medallions adorning him jangled against each other._

"_Who are you?" Kherris asked lazily._

"_I'm more interested in 'what are you?'" countered the one who was apparently captain. "But I'll give my name first. Drak Tahn, Omnitaur, rebel, space pirate captain. Your turn."_

"_I… I'm an Omnitaur also," 628 responded._

"_Yeah, Omnitaur my hoof," Calder sneered._

"_Highly-"_

"_Doubtful." This response came from two female Omnitaurians, apparently twins. They were females, and looked to be mirror reflections of each other, identical except they were each missing a horn on opposite sides. As 628 continued to look around the room, he noticed everybody present was an Omnitaur, each dressed in light GF armor with the symbols slashed out. Each one also wore a scanner on one eye, and most were heavily armed._

"_You do realize what you look like?" Drak asked. 628 nodded, and Drak's grin widened. "Fine then. We'll say you're an Omnitaur. Why the hell did you board our ship?"_

"_I'm _so sick_ of this planet," 628 said, anger flooding into him. "Not the planet, but the people. Well, not you, but everybody I know. They all think the concept of technology is a DIRTY word just because not all civilizations could advance technologically and preserve their environment and culture and they're worried they-"_

"_Kid? KID!" Calder shook him out of it. "We get it. Stop freaking out."_

"_Great," Drak stood up. "Since you're an Omnitaur, and you can't get your views to fit in with anybody else's, you'll do great as part of the crew."_

"_What do you mean?" 628 asked as Calder chuckled and got off of him._

"_I'll spell it out for you so my brother doesn't have to," Kherris answered. "You've just been press-ganged into the one and only all-Omnitaur pirate crew in the galaxy. Unless of course you aren't an Omnitaur, in which case we'll dump you at the nearest port. Or throw you out the airlock to the ground… I'd say about twenty-five kilos below by now."_

"_I keep telling you I'm an Omnitaur," 628 growled as he got to his feet and brushed himself off. "This just happened to me in the last few hours."_

"_One thing before I give you this and you officially join," Drak stated as he spun a spare eyescanner around his finger. "You still haven't given your name."_

"_My name? It's..." 628 trailed off. He knew what his name had been, but as he thought about it, it seemed wrong. An ill-fitting name for an ill-fitting life. He decided his days under that name were over. "My name is Maverick," he finally said._

**End of Chapter**

**Yay for flashbacks making for a long chapter! Yay for Maverick being an adamant little bastard! And yay for me using two tHGttG references in the same chapter!**

**Next chapter, 627 sets the REAL evil plan into motion! Witness it all in Chapter 18: Machines and Machinations!**


	18. Chapter 18

**avatar: Today, it's a switch. I'm doing the disclaimer, and Jumba's giving the story report. I do not own Lilo and Stitch, but I own the H-Series, Maverick, and any other non-canon characters here. I also own the contents of this story. Jumba?**

**Jumba: Events are winding up to maximum windingness! Tension is increasing until massive snappage results in action sequence to be ending all action sequences! It is a very evil way to be powering a story.**

**avatar: I sure do hope so. That was Jumba Jookiba, everybody!**

**Chapter 18**

**Machines and Machinations**

627 strolled back and forth in front of the four figures, one arm behind his back. He'd have looked like a military general, except the other hand was holding a boned shank of meat that he was slowly eating. He swallowed a bite and stopped pacing, looking them up and down. "You all have benefited from my last-moment addition to your programming. You're just lucky that way. Now I'm going to quickly make sure it stuck." He took another bite, and turned his head lazily to the left, looking at the largest figure. "Experiment H6, what is your name?"

"Talon," he – for the voice was clearly male – responded in a coarse, husky voice. The shadow he cast was very large and reminiscent of a small dinosaur.

"And who is your target?" 627 asked, eyes narrowed.

"Maverick, aka Experiment 628."

"Perfect," 627 complimented with a grin. "Seek him out." The massive Experiment turned and ran off into the underbrush with surprising speed. 627 took another bite and turned to the one that was now in the middle. "Name and target, H2?"

"Mind and Jumba Jookiba, master," the Experiment answered with a little bow. He seemed deformed, with a head strangely large even on an Experiment, and his voice was shrill and quick. He paused, and added, "May I have a piece of that?"

"This?" 627 waved the shank of meat. "No way! I caught and cooked her myself! Besides, this is my last bite! Now get going!" Mind sulkily ran off while 627 finished the remainder of the meat in one bite, bone and all. "Now, you two-" he was suddenly interrupted by a fit of coughing, a series of hacking coughs that caused his whole body to spasm. Then they were gone as quickly as they came, and 627 regained his bearings and rubbed his throat. "Sorry," he said, confusion in his voice. "Must have gotten some bone lodged in my throat." _I thought I chewed that well enough._ "Anyway, tell me your name, H1."

"I am Heart," said the left-hand remaining Experiment, and her voice was evidence enough that she was a female. She seemed to be the Experiment with the most traditional design – that is, the most like Stitch, Angel, and the other Experiments from 621 onward. It was a strong, cold voice, and it made 627 smile.

"And you, H3?"

"The _name_ is Soul." This voice was also female, but deeper, and managed to convey that its owner wasn't going to take any shit from anybody. The silhouette of the Experiment was somewhat large, and featured a large set of appendages folded on the back.

"Perfect. And you two are working together. Your targets are…?"

"Sword and Shield," Heart responded. "Show them the error of their ways, and bring them back to our side. If Angel interferes, remove her from the equation."

"Go get 'em, girls." Heart and Soul nodded and ran silently out of 627's impressive field of sight. "I guess I'd better get going, too."

* * *

All the pedestrians milling about on the Hawaiian street that day were mystified by why the child was lugging all that strange-looking machinery down the street in a little red wagon, not to mention why he was wearing such heavy clothing in Hawaiian summer heat. However, being normal humans, they had no trouble at all rationalizing it to themselves and ignoring it. That much, at least, 627 was thankful for. _Stupid blitzing hologram generator doesn't work anymore!_ He screamed inwardly. _Stupid Hawaiian climate! Stupid ears itching under the hood! Stupid BLITZING LITTLE RED WAGON!_ He pulled himself into the shade, and realized where he was. He promptly turned to the open window cut out of the small, colorful shack, and noticed the cheerful face of Frenchfry peeking out. "Two foot-long hot dogs and a large smoothie, please," he said without looking up. 

"Ah, wee-wee!" Frenchfry cheerfully responded, not bothering to take a closer look at his customer. He relayed the order to Richter (who was manning the smoothie machine), and began to whip up the hot dogs. Although neither Experiment noticed their customer's species, Slugger, who was sipping a soda on a rooftop not far off, was another story. He saw past the small black jeans and sneakers, past the ski gloves and the child's hoodie that read 'I Can Beat Up Your Honor Student', to the Experiment wearing them underneath. And it didn't take his artificially-sharp brain to deduce the particular Experiment.

_That's 627!_ Slugger realized. _I've got to tell Lilo and Stitch!_ _I saw them somewhere earlier… oh yeah! The beach!_ He opened his leathery, pterodactyl-esque wings and leapt into the air, leaving his soda behind as he glided toward the beach.

627 turned to watch Slugger's retreating shadow as he took a bite of his hot dog. "The dice have been rolled, the stage has been set, and I'm ready to make a four-move checkmate," he said somberly. Then he burst out laughing, stopping only when he began to attract glances. "I hope Lilo and Stitch get here soon," he snickered, "because metaphors don't fight back when I mangle them."

* * *

"Yeahhhh!" Lilo navigated her way expertly through the barrel, emerging on the far side of the wave. Stitch attempted to follow her, but the lip of the wave collapsed in on him, crushing him under the water. Lilo wasn't worried about this kind of thing anymore; Stitch used an extra-bouyant surfboard David had gotten him, and wore an ankle strap leading to it designed by Jumba to be almost as durable as Stitch himself. As long as he was surfing, there was no danger of him drowning. It was all the more fun now that Nani had decided Lilo was old enough to surf on her own, without her or David present. 

Stitch's soaked head popped gasping from the froth, interrupting her train of thought. "Let's take a break," he suggested once he caught his breath.

"So you haven't heard from Maverick since last night?" she asked as they paddled to the shadows.

"Naga. Don't care anyway," Stitch muttered. "He's a real jerk sometimes. Nobody can teach him anything without knocking him on his patookie first." Stitch stood up in the foot-deep waters of the shallows. "I like Sword a lot better."

"Sword…" Lilo thought of something. "Stitch, something's been bothering me?"

"Yeah, what?"

"When Sword was first activated, the Experiment monitor said he had primary and secondary functions. Shield was the same way."

"So you told me. What about it?"

"Sword's primary function was 'Perfect Offense'. His secondary functions were 'Scouting' and 'Tiamat Formation.' Shield's primary function was 'Perfect Defense', and his secondary functions were 'Attack Reflection', 'Brute Force', and 'Tiamat Formation'." Lilo looked up at Stitch. "What do you think 'Tiamat Formation' is?"

Stitch shrugged noncommittally. "It's probably just a combat formation. I don't think they used it against me, so it probably requires all the H-Series Experiments together."

"Okay," Lilo said. "I was worried about it, but it doesn't seem likely, since there are six H-Series and two are turned to good already." Suddenly, her watch began to blink like crazy. "Uh-oh."

"**Warning: Experiment H1 activated. Experiment H2 activated. Experiment H3 activated. Experiment H6 activated.**"

"Well, that's just great," Stitch said sarcastically. "I was worried we'd get to relax today."

Lilo brought up the Experiment compass. "H1 and H3 are together They're heading towards Angel's place... that's where Sword and Shield are! The others are separate, and I think H2's heading toward the ship and our house. Who should we go after?"

Before Stitch got the chance to respond, Slugger swooped down and landed nearby. "Guys!" he cried breathlessly, not used to gliding long distances. "He was… it was… he had… he's going to…"

"What? WHAT?!" Stitch asked impatiently. "Snap out of it, Slugger!"

"Take a deep breath and tell us," Lilo suggested.

Slugger complied, his breath catching in a series of snorts, before blurting out, "627 is here and he's in disguise so nobody notices and he was buying a hot dog and I think he's got a BOMB!"

"A bomb?!" Stitch yelled. "That's crazy! It's not like 627 to kill people indirectly… he loves doing it with his bare hands so much…"

"Stitch, how big an explosion do you think an advanced alien bomb could make?" Lilo asked, panic nipping at the edges of her voice.

"Jumba said 627 and Hamsterviel stole some a bit of tech from the Galactic Federation, including several bombs. At maximum setting, most of them are capable of taking out up to Heavy Class solid planets."

"What class is Earth again?" Slugger asked.

"Medium-Heavy," Stitch muttered, his eyes downcast. "If the bomb goes off, we can kiss Earth goodbye."

"We need Sparky to-" Lilo began, but Stitch cut her off.

"After the full list of Jumba's Experiments was made public about three Earth years ago, the GF began specifically making all their weapons resistant to tampering by Sparky, Glitch, or any other technology-disrupting Experiment. Our only chances are to take down 627 before he activates the bomb, or take him down before it goes off and deactivate it. I can do that, but not with 627 breathing down my neck."

"Then we're going to have to go deal with 627 ourselves, and warn whoever you can reach about the H-Series Experiments," Stitch said.

"Should I come with you?" Slugger asked.

"No, I can't ask you to fight 627," Lilo said. "Tell any Experiments you find, though."

"Right," Slugger said, and he prepared to leap into the air again, but Stitch stopped him.

"Wait… you never told us where 627 is!"

"Oh yeah," Slugger said with an embarrassed chuckle, "He was at Frenchfry's when I left, but he was eating fast. The other Experiments were working and I'm not today, so I was the only one who noticed. Stitch, can you throw me so I can get a good start on my glide?"

"Sure." Stitch picked up Slugger by the chest and threw him over his head, launching him fifty feet into the air. Slugger opened his wings and glided inland.

"Thanks, Stitch! Good luck guys!" he called.

"We'd better get going," Lilo said, and Stitch nodded in agreement. They left their surfboards planted firmly in the ground and headed off to face what they knew could be their toughest battle yet.

**End of Chapter**

**Next Chapter, Heart and Soul drop in on Sword and Shield, and Mind introduces himself to Jumba. Also, Maverick's got questions, and Talon claims to have all the answers.**

**On a side note, I've got a mid-school year workload now, and I just got a new Wii game (GGXXC FTW!), so there may be a delay in the delicious updates. Hold tight, I'm-a workin' on it.**


	19. Chapter 19

**avatar: The action's starting this chapter, so I'm not going to keep you. Enjoy.**

**I don't own Lilo and Stitch, or Gorillaz. I do own Maverick, Heart, Mind, Soul, Sword, Shield, Talon, (finally I can refer to all the H-Series by name) and the contents of this story.**

**Chapter 19**

**Ambush Rhapsody**

"Thanks for letting us have lunch here, Angel," Sword said, tapping Shield's foot subtly with his heel.

"Yeah, thanks," Shield added, picking up the message.

"Oh, it's no trouble, boys," Angel said, putting the dishes in the sink. "I haven't had anybody staying with me for a month and a half, so I wanted to get to know you guys better."

"Well, you know now," Sword said. "May I help you with those?"

"Thanks, but I've got it, Sword," Angel said. "You're really polite, you know. You said that wasn't even programmed into you?"

"It's true," Shield chuckled. "Sword got deep into the whole chivalry concept all on his own. He's kinda creepy about it sometimes." Sword scowled for just a second before regaining his composure. "So… Lilo says every Experiment has one true place. What's yours? I can't imagine it's just running a little hostel for Experiments who don't have their own home yet."

"You figured it out," Angel said as she put a cup into the drying rack. "I'm sure you've heard about my singing voice? Well, I'm actually trying to make it in Earth's music business."

"Without a disguise? How is that going to work without revealing our existence to humans?"

"You know how humans are. I've found a record label that recently set up camp here on the island, and so far a 'don't ask don't tell' thing about what exactly I am seems to be going on. As for the rest of the population, Lilo recently heard about this 'virtual band' called Gorillas or something. The music videos are all animation, and the band members are fictional characters created by the people who actually provide instrumentals and singing for them. We figured that's what we could tell everybody I am – a piece of computer animation. Nobody'd be the wiser, and if it gets to the point where I hold concerts, we could say it's a hologram onstage."

"That's pretty clever," Sword said. "Don't you think so, Shield?"

"Yeah," Shield muttered, looking toward the door.

"Problem, Shield?" Angel asked.

"Something's been bothering me… Sword, I thought I felt the other H-Series Experiments get activated this morning. Did you feel anything?"

"I did," Sword said, worry suddenly present on his face. "But the signal wasn't nearly as strong as it should have been, so I thought it was just my mind playing tricks on me!" He turned to Angel. "Do you think there could be any calcium deposits in this cliffside?"

"Probably, why?"

"Crap! The mental signals that tell H-Series Experiments when others are activated can be interfered with by calcium!"

"Which means…?" Angel asked.

Suddenly, the door burst off its hinges, revealing two silhouettes in the light beyond. "It means that we were dropping by for a visit, and poor Sword and Shield didn't get the memo," one of them said cruelly. The phone began ringing, but nobody made a move to answer it.

"You didn't have to break the door down. It was unlocked," Angel grumbled as the two stepped into the room, allowing a clearer view of them. Both were female, and both had the same iridescent yellow eyes as Sword and Shield. The bigger Experiment in front had deep blue fur, lighter on the chest, inner ears and around the eyes. She had small ears, a strong jaw, and a powerful build, and would've resembled a bear cub except for the large pair of white-feathered wings folded against her back. The same silvery armor plates that adorned Sword and Shield's bodies were present on her arms, legs, and the top of her wings.

"Don't you boys remember us?" the other one whispered flirtily. She was the one who had spoken earlier, and the smaller one. Unlike the other H-Series, she had no armor plates, and her fur was bright red. She was built like Angel and Stitch, except her ears were bat-like. She had purple claws, and indigo fur on her inner ears, shaped like a mask over her eyes, and in an upside-down heart shape on her chest. Indigo V shapes were on her forearms and shins, and 8 indigo circles on her back encircled a broken-heart motif. "I'm absolutely _crushed_."

"H-hi-hiya, Heart, Soul," Shield said nervously.

"What's with you, Shield?" Angel said calmly. "I thought you two were supposed to be the strongest H-Series Experiments. Letting two girls freak you out?"

"Well, we are the strongest," Shield muttered. "But they can do some crazy stuff, these two. Plus, Soul doesn't take crap from anybody, and Heart's a major bitch!"

"Watch it, fatty," Heart growled. "Soul, let's take them to the dance."

"Thought you'd never give the order, girl," Soul replied casually. She then extended her wings to their full wingspan, which was easily three times her height, and flapped forward, creating a miniature windstorm in the cramped space. Sword and Shield were forced to steady themselves, and Angel was thrown off her feet. Soul then refolded her wings as she charged toward them. Sword grabbed Angel and leapt back, and Shield blocked Soul, the two large Experiments pushing against each other and growling. "You don't want to fight me, Shield," Soul warned. "You'll pay for it later."

"I'll take my chances." Shield lifted Soul into the air and suplexed her. Meanwhile, Sword was about to put down Angel, but four red tentacles burst from the ground around him. He yelled in surprise and jumped away, putting Angel down in the new location. He then dashed toward Heart, who had sprouted the tentacles from four of the dark circles on her back and driven them into the ground. Sword slashed at her with an arm-blade, but she ducked under and popped a quartet of indigo tentacles from the remaining circles on her back. She then thrust the tentacles at Sword, forcing him to jump back. She finished by pulling the red tentacles out of the ground and lashing them into Sword, knocking him back. He caught himself on the far wall and jumped to the floor.

"What can I do?" Angel asked.

"Do you have a weapon or anything?" Sword asked. Angel bit her lip and pointed to the far wall. A plasma blaster hung from a coat rack, but the winds Soul had whipped up had driven a fork into the safety, rendering it useless. "Your song won't work against them," Soul informed her. "If you see an opening, attack." He turned and blocked a pair of tentacles which lashed his way. "Otherwise, stay out of the way!" he yelled as he sent several force waves toward Heart, forcing her to jump away.

Shield jumped away from Soul's low kick, and blocked her claws when she slashed high. He then saw an opening and rammed his spiked shield into her side, causing her to grunt and jump back a bit. "You may be the second-most durable H-Series Experiment, baby," he said, slamming her face with his other shield. "But I got news for you: there's a difference between _second_ and _first_!" He curled into his wheel form and rammed her, slamming her back and knocking her off her feet. "Good try, though," he crowed.

Heart jumped over a force wave and brought her tentacles down on Sword, but he jumped to the side and she had to jerk her tentacles away to prevent him from severing them. She landed and swept his feet out from under him, but he landed on his wing-blades and used them to flip back to his feet. "This is getting tiresome," she said. "Soul! Boost me!"

"Right!" Soul pushed herself away from Shield, and held up her paw, palm up and open. A shining sphere appeared in the paw, glowing bright blue, and when it illuminated Heart, she seemed to be renewed, her body lit as if from the inside. Sword jumped toward the red Experiment, thrusting both arm-blades, but Heart leapt over him and wrapped her tentacles around his torso, pulling herself tight against his back. Waves of red energy coursed along her tentacles and into Sword's body.

"Who do we serve, Sword?" Heart asked kindly. "I mean really."

"We serve 627, and Project Massacre," Sword said dully. Then he looked at Shield, and his voice regained its usual conviction as he grinned. "You would do well to remember that, brother."

"What's going on, Shield?" Angel asked.

"Heart's tentacles can be used to manipulate the emotions and goodness levels of whoever she strikes, especially the other H-Series," Shield explained. "Soul can boost the abilities of any other Experiments she chooses as long as she maintains focus. When boosted, Heart's power works as outright mind control on anybody she maintains skin contact with, manipulating them like a marionette. It was determined to be the most appropriate power for the H-Series field leader. Now get ready, because it's about to get dangerous in here."

"What do you mean?" Angel asked, but she got her answer when Sword swung his wing-blades over his head and slammed them to the ground, sending a pair of force waves at Shield. Shield blocked, lining the waves up with the violet spikes on his arm-shields, and was rewarded with a surge of power in his muscles. He used the new energy to jump at Sword, swinging both arms downward in a powerful hammer blow.

"All defenses can be pierced, brother!" Sword jumped away, leaving Shield's blow to crater the floor, and jabbed with his arm-blades. Shield blocked with the plates on his back, and countered with a low sweep of his tail. Sword backflipped over the sweep, but Shield kept spinning and managed to land a left hook on Sword's face as he was landing, knocking him across the room and cracking the armor plate on his left cheek.

"All offenses can be halted, _brother_," Shield replied mockingly. "Wait… where's Heart?"

"Peek-a-boo!" Heart dropped from the ceiling and landed on Shield's head, wrapping her tentacles around his neck and shoulders before he could grab her. "Now, Shield, who do you-"

"Oh, shut _up!_" Angel yelled, kicking Heart off of Shield's head. Heart flipped and landed on her feet, and Angel chased after her by jumping forward and landing on her hands. Angel then flipped her feet forward and double-kicked Heart in the chest, knocking her back into a table. Angel flipped her antennae down on Heart, who caught them with her tentacles and tossed Angel across the room. "Is that all you've got?" Angel asked, rolling to her feet.

"Yes it is," Heart said, lifting herself into the air with four of her tentacles. "But the rest of us have a lot more."

Angel instantly recognized what she meant, and turned around. Sword was directly to her left, Shield stood on her right, and Soul was right behind her, scowling. "Be gentle," Angel said.

Soul responded by punching her hard in the forehead, sending her back into a bookshelf, which collapsed on her. "I don't do gentle."

* * *

Maverick sat in a small clearing in the Hawaiian rain forest, on top of a small rock. "I shouldn't have done that," he muttered. "Now Stitch is pissed, and he, Lilo and Jumba are the only ones on this rock who liked me in the first place. Plus I'll probably be stuck here even longer. Of course, I've got no idea what I even want to do when I get off this rock. Captain… I can't believe they want me to be their blitzing captain, what do I know about leadership? Now I'm ranting out loud like an idiot… but that fits, because that's how I've been acting. I'm not going to get anywhere sitting around yelling and being angry at people. But where do I even want to go? I know where I don't want to go, but I don't even know what directions not to take to avoid those fates…" he heard a rustling sound, and his head immediately shot up. He clicked the eyescanner Lilo had been nice enough to fix the strap for, and began scanning around. It didn't take long to notice a large creature that wasn't human. "What are you? Come on out!"

"You seem to be full of questions," responded the creature as he walked into the clearing. He was dark blue, and his body was covered in the same plates as Sword, Shield, and Soul. His torso was round and relatively small, and supported by two huge, powerful clawed legs like that of a velociraptor. A long, reptilian tail tipped with a scything blade swished gently from the rear end of his torso, and an aerodynamic head with a beaklike muzzle and glowing yellow eyes stuck out from the other. Beneath his head, four short tentacles waved in place of arms. He narrowed his eyes and chuckled before speaking again. "I'm Talon, and I think I have the answers you seek."

"_You_ have answers for me?" Maverick relaxed only slightly. "Do tell." Instead of responding, Talon turned powerful, muscular tail and ran off into the trees, already starting to disappear among Hawaii's thick greenery. "Hey! Get back here! I thought you had something to tell me!" He ran after Talon, but soon found he could not keep up, and activated his jets. "Come on! Stop! I'm serious!"

Talon laughed up ahead and increased his speed. Maverick pushed more power to his jets, cursing inwardly the loss of his other eyescanner – moving quickly through the air was hard on his one exposed eye. Suddenly, Talon jumped and did a 360-degree-spin in midair before landing and continuing. _What was that for?_ Maverick wondered. Suddenly, a palm tree split open halfway up the trunk and fell toward him. Maverick sensed it in time and dodged, realizing what the spin was for. _That Talon freak is attacking me! He'd better HOPE I don't catch him!

* * *

_

Jumba hung up the phone. "I was having Experiment catching-device in here, they are not needing to be telling me when four new ones are being activated." He casually grabbed a green plasma blaster from a drawer in his workdesk and continued writing blueprints for his next invention (a cookie jar that spanked children who tried to steal from it). Suddenly, a beeping noise resounded through the ship and an alert popped up on a laptop next to his blueprints. "Biohazard alert? Was I leaving burner on too long again?" He read the alert number. "Wait… acid alert? I was not working with acid recently!" Jumba heard a hissing sound above and behind him, and turned to look for the source of the noise. The ceiling began to bubble and hiss, and Jumba jumped back as it poured to the ground with a liquid hiss. "Ah. There is acid."

A small Experiment jumped through the new hole and landed across the room from Jumba before turning to face him. He had a tiny blue body with no arms or legs – four tentacles were his only support. A massive head rested on this body, with a huge, grinning, crocodilian set of jaws. He had deerlike pointed ears and a pair of sweeping horns. Pointed teeth poked out from his lips all over. Black fur was on his belly and inner ears, and an 'X' mark of black fur crossed each eye. A hexagonal gem was set between his horns in the center of his skull, and like his eyes, it shone yellow. "You must be Jumba Jookiba, creator of my creator," he said, chuckling interrupting his speech every few words. "I'm Mind, aka Experiment H2. It _pains_ me to say this, but… I have to kill you."

"I would be liking to seeing you try it!" Jumba raised the plasma blaster, but Mind spat a glob of translucent yellow acid. Jumba jumped away, and the glob landed on his blueprints, melting a neat hole through them and a messier hole through the table. Jumba yelled angrily and fired a blast at Mind, who reached a tentacle up to a light fixture above him and pulled himself up. Jumba reached over to a wall, and flicked a switch. "If you are wishing to be defeating me in own lab, you would be doing well not to be hanging from defenses!" The light fixture unfolded into a flamethrower which blasted Mind with a blue jet and knocked him across the room.

"Yow!" Mind pulled himself up, and the gem on his head flashed from yellow to purple. He opened his jaws, and a lightning bolt leapt out and arced into the flamethrower, obliterating it. "I wouldn't go up against you in your own element without more than one breath weapon, Jumba!" He shot a lightning bolt at Jumba, striking him in the stomach and knocking him off his feet. Jumba rolled to his knees, swearing incoherently, and fired off several shots at Mind. The green blaster was one he had modified himself; it sacrificed accuracy for automatic fire, which made the relatively slow-moving plasma shots much harder to dodge. Mind, however, latched onto a switch on the wall, pulling himself to it to dodge the plasma shots. The jerk of his weight pulled the switch, causing the largest screen on the ship to turn on (although it was just static). Mind then blasted more lightning at Jumba. Jumba jumped out of the way, and the bolt hit a beaker, causing it to explode and spray burning gel all over the room.

"I was not planning to spend day being bombarded by lightning and having lab destroyed!" Jumba yelled, protecting his eyes from the makeshift napalm.

"The best-laid plans of Experiments and men…" Mind taunted, firing a bolt at another beaker.

"You will desist in the harming of my lab right NOW!" Jumba fired wildly at Mind. Two shots hit Mind in his sizeable jaw, knocking him backward into a tall stack of printer paper and scattering it about. The paper easily caught fire whenever it passed near the gel, and soon the entire room of the lab was ablaze. "NO!" Jumba yelled, the fire reflected in his eyes.

"Yes!" came an irritating voice through the snowy screen. The static began to fade, and Hamsterviel's face stuttered into view. "I am glad I could see you, Jumba, while my _brilliant_ formulations and plans formulate and plan themselves into action! You said I could never do anything genius for myself!"

"You never _could_ be doing anything for yourself!" Jumba yelled as he ducked behind an overturned table and fired at Mind. "You were needing the assistance of 627, MY greatest and worst creation!"

"Needed 627's help?" Mind sniggered. Then he burst into full-blown laughter, not caring about the plasma blasts whizzing past him. "That's funny! 627 _barely_ needed Hamsterviel's help!"

"WHAT?!" Hamsterviel screeched, hopping up and down in anger. "Why you large-skulled-"

"It doesn't matter, though," Mind yelled to Jumba over Hamsterviel. His gem flashed to yellow again, and he fired a glob of acid, melting through the table and revealing Jumba's face underneath, red with fury. "Either way, Jumba, you and your ohana are going to DIE!"

**End of Chapter**

**I know, some of the dialogue was cheesy at the beginning. That's just how it came out.**

**Next Chapter: Can Jumba survive an H-Series Experiment's onslaught with no backup? And can Lilo and Stitch finally end 627's killing spree for good?**


	20. Chapter 20

**avatar: Hope you all like this chapter. Yes, 627 is back, and he's fighting Lilo and Stitch. AND he's butchering songs from the Lilo and Stitch soundtrack (because his arms got tired from butchering people). Also, I guarantee that there will be at least one character death before this fic is over. Who? Well, that's a mystery.**

**Clip: avatarjk137 does not own Lilo and Stitch, or any of the songs in its soundtrack. He owns the H-Series Experiments, Maverick, Absolute, and the contents of this story. Who wants a free haircut?**

**avatar: I'm not complaining, but where did the Clip/Sparky pairing come from? It's like everywhere. Anyhoo, onto the chapter!**

**Chapter 20**

**Jesters' Assault**

"Where is everybody?" Stitch asked. The small Hawaiian town, although normally by no means bustling, usually had some activity all day long. Now this entire neighborhood of the town was deserted. Not a soul could be seen.

"I don't know," Lilo said. "Do you hear singing?"

_"There's no place I would rather be…" _Whoever was singing wasn't particularly good at it.

"Yeah, I hear it," Stitch said angrily. "And I know that voice, too. Come on!" They followed the sound of the voice.

_"Lingering in the ocean blue…" _the song continued.

"Almost there!" Lilo yelled. They turned the corner, and there was 627, his hood down but the rest of his child's clothes still on, working on the control panel of a cylindrical silver device about the size of a house's air conditioning unit.

"_I'd surf 'till the sun sets beyond the horizon…"_ he sang, raucous and off-key. _"__A wiki wiki mai lohi lohi Lawe mai i ko papa he'e nalu __Hawaiian something something-"_ he turned and looked at his most bitter opponents. "Oh, lookie lookie!" he laughed and jumped atop the bomb, revealing a digital timer that immediately began to count down from 15:00. "It's Lilo and Stitch. The dynamic duo! The ambassador to Earth and the abomination of the galaxy! The sweet little girl and her fluffy blue pet wrecking ball!"

"Are you babbling just to stall us?" Lilo asked.

"No, I wanted to catch up!" 627 said jovially. "It's been what? Nine, ten weeks? Too long, I'd say!"

"Where is everybody?" Stitch asked. "Did you kill them all, you psycho?"

"Nah!" 627 said, but he tapped his claw on his chin in thought. "Well, maybe… no, nobody since yesterday. Just a little neural suggestion to get everybody to leave."

"Mind control," Stitch growled, "as if you weren't committing enough atrocities."

"_You're _an atrocity!" 627 replied, sticking his tongue out childishly. "No, literally, cousin, you are. Anyway, it was a favor to you. I know you _goody-two-shoes_ types don't like fighting with 'innocent' victims around. But the mind control didn't work on these two…" he pointed over to Frenchfry's stall, where he and Richter were tied up with metal cables and gagged with duct tape. "…So that was necessary. Can I offer you guys a drink? Maybe in a sippy cup?"

_"Stitch,"_ a voice said, and Stitch started a bit when he realized it was Lilo speaking to him telepathically. _"Distract him. I'll try and disable the bomb."_ Stitch responded by jumping at 627, fist cocked back for a punch. 627 was caught by surprise, and the punch landed home, smashing him across his red nose and knocking him off the bomb. 627 landed on one hand and easily flipped to his feet; Stitch chased him, but his evil cousin grabbed him by the arm and threw him across the street into a faded stop sign. Lilo ran to the control panel, and found it to be in English, to her surprise. "Stitch! It's in English! I can handle it on my own!"

"Can you, Lilo?" Lilo turned around in a panic in time for 627 to blast her in the chest with a burst of red plasma. He heard her head smack against the control panel through the cloud of smoke, and laughed in satisfaction. "Well, that was easy! Oh, Stitch, cousin of mine, what will you do now that I've killed one of your ohana?"

Suddenly 627 felt his feet leave the ground, and he turned over his shoulder to see Lilo standing, her hand up and a circular burn in her muumuu. "I'm not dead, but you've probably already figured that out," she said with a hint of rage. She gestured with her hand, and 627's head was smashed against the ground several times before he was tossed into the air. Stitch jumped and grabbed him in the air and piledrove him headfirst into the sidewalk before jumping back. Lilo turned back to the control panel, and selected an option that quite plainly read 'DEACTIVATE'. "I knew it was too easy," Lilo muttered, "There's an 8-digit password here."

"Try 'EVILEVIL'," Stitch suggested, his eyes on 627, who was getting up and brushing himself off as if nothing happened.

The red Experiment looked at Lilo and just stared for a few seconds, head cocked to the side, before a look of realization crossed his twisted face. "Oh, I get it! You retained your powers from 000 after turning back to human form because humans have so much water in them!" he nodded to himself, pleased with the answer.

"That was quick," Lilo said. "Didn't work, Stitch. I'm trying something else."

"That's the power of _two _supercomputer brains," 627 said triumphantly. "You should try using your _one_ once in a while, Stitch." He popped his claws, tearing through the ski gloves he wore, and charged at Stitch. Stitch dodged a high slash while extending his own claws, and raked them across 627's chest, tearing the sweatshirt and drawing blood. 627 snarled as he backhanded Stitch with his claws, drawing blood across Stitch's cheeks and nose, and drove his knee into the blue Experiment's gut. Stitch fell back on his rear, and 627 slammed a kick into his jaw when he tried to get up. "Well, cousin, ready for a rollercoaster ride?" 627 asked maliciously. Without waiting for an answer, he punched Stitch into the sky, sending him rocketing off with a scream.

"Uh-oh." Lilo picked up a rock telekinetically and chucked it at 627's head, but he caught it and crushed it into dust. "Get back," she warned. "I'm better at fighting than I look!"

"Please," 627 laughed, "You couldn't fight your way out from under the bench Elvis sat on." He rushed forward, and almost before Lilo could blink, he had her by the ankle and was dangling her from the traffic light. "So, are you going to turn me to good, Lilo? Find my one true place and give me a nice, descriptive name? If I were Stitch, I'd feel left out. That name doesn't make any sense on him. He should be 'Headstrong' or something cool." Lilo reached up and began to squeeze his wrist, but he didn't let go. "So what're you gonna name me, Lilo? 'Hades'? No, too mythological. 'Damien'? Hmm, too biblical. 'Scorpio'? Too astrological," he sighed.

Lilo was trying to snap his elbow, but she couldn't help being drawn into the conversation. "Virgil?"

"No, that's stupid!" 627 scratched his head with his free arm. "Grendel? Nah… Evil? No, I'm beyond that now… Nightmare? That's old… Perfection? Let's call that a back-up plan."

"…eeeyyahh!" Stitch finally landed from the punch, right next to Richter and Frenchfry. He got up dizzily, and quickly shook his head to regain his focus as 627 gave Stitch his full attention. "Hurry! Get out of here!" Stitch slashed easily thru the steel cables binding his fellow Experiments, and Lilo bent 627's finger back, finally causing him to flinch and drop her.

"That hurt a little!" 627 snarled. "Nobody hurts me _even a little_ and gets away with it!" He spat a plasma ball of the type Splodyhead used into his hand, and began to charge it with electricity. After a few seconds he had a crackling and highly unstable ball of smoldering energy in his hand, and he pitched it at Stitch like a baseball. Stitch jumped away, and the ball drilled into the ground before exploding and hurling chunks of concrete dozens of feet in all directions. "Nice! Who wants another-" 627 suddenly stopped and began coughing into his hand, a rough, hacking cough that surprised Lilo and Stitch.

"What passwords did you try?" Stitch asked Lilo as 627's coughing fit went on.

"HOMOCIDE, REGICIDE, GENOCIDE, ULTIMATE, and VIOLENCE," Lilo replied, counting off on her fingers.

"Okie-taka," Stitch nodded, "I'll try and get you another opening. Try SINISTER."

"Sorry," 627 replied, straightening up. "Must've been something in the air. Now who wants another fastball special?" He spat out a plasma ball into each hand, and began charging before he threw one each at Lilo and Stitch.

_Experiments wouldn't be affected by 'something in the air',_ Stitch thought to himself as he dodged the explosive projectile. _What's really up with him?

* * *

_

"You're going to die, die, die…." Mind sang. "Which reminds me, it's time to try a new way to kill you." The gem on his head flashed from yellow to green, and he breathed a stream of green gas at Jumba, who rolled away. "This vapor should cause death or paralysis in… well, just about anything," he said. "Somebody call for an exterminator?"

"Wait," Hamsterviel yelled irritably, "What do you mean '627 barely needed my help'? I did almost all the work, you smelly little bobbleheaded trog with far too much of the talking!" Jumba hadn't noticed it until now, but Hamsterviel wasn't looking too good. His fur was dirty and matted, and had begun to fall out in places, and one of his ears had a strange twitch. His voice contained a note of poorly-hidden fatigue. Jumba was surprised that freedom was so much harder on Hamsterviel than prison.

"I said he didn't _need_ your help," Mind sneered. "He still took it so he wouldn't have to do it himself. All work and no play makes 627… blow up or something. So _you _shut up, you delusional lab rat!" He was suddenly blasted across the room by a few shots of plasma. He got up, wincing, and chuckled, "Sorry, Jumba, forgot about ya. I'll kill you up nice to make up for it." He breathed another cloud of poison at Jumba, who ran into the ship's cockpit to avoid it, slamming the door behind him. The poisonous gas met the flames, and suddenly ignited, creating a room-wide explosion that pinned Mind against the wall. "Ow. I forgot that Earth's atmosphere makes my poisons flammable."

"That shows what you know!" Hamsterviel laughed in spite of himself at the small, murderous Experiment's blunder. Mind peeled himself off the wall, leaving a silhouette in the burn marks, and his gem flashed purple again. "Ahahahaaa… you stupid Experiment! You wound up hurting yourself, and now Jumba has gotten away! You stupid-" Mind cut Hamsterviel off by slamming a powerful bolt into the giant monitor, destroying it and driving Hamsterviel's image permanently out of the spaceship.

"That takes care of one annoyance," Mind laughed as his gem flashed back to yellow. He spat a thin stream of acid along the seam of the cockpit door, which was melting through it with alarming speed. "Next comes the fat scientist, and then the noodle."

* * *

"Give it _up_, you two!" 627 had worked his way back onto the bomb's top while throwing electrically charged plasma spheres, and he had Lilo and Stitch frantically dodging his attacks after seeing what they did to the architecture. "Destroying stuff isn't just my goal… it's my passion! I love to have fun, and to me, nothing's more fun than winning a tough battle! Killing with my bare hands is a close second, I suppose… say, that gives me an idea!" He extended his claws to maximum length and blew on them, creating icicle spikes on the tips of his fingers. Then he pulled back his hand and thrusted forward. "Think fast!" 

"Ahh!" His fingers shot around Stitch's head, piercing deeply into the concrete wall behind him. Stitch nervously pulled his head down and out of the semicircle of extended fingers, and as 627 pulled them free, Stitch dashed forward and slashed at 627's unguarded torso. 627 turned on one foot and dodged the attack, but Stitch's claws slashed through his sweatshirt, rendering the rude message unintelligible. "Whoops!" Stitch said, and 627 angrily kicked him away.

"Well, the hoody's already ruined…" 627 popped all six arms out, destroying the shirt, and breathed a layer of ice onto all his claws. Then he extended his arms into the air, laughing insanely, and they came down around Stitch, forming the bars of a cage. "Watch this!" 627 said with a savage grin, and an electrical current coursed through the 'bars' of the cage, shocking Stitch until he screamed. "Poor Stitchie…" suddenly, a car slammed into 627's head, crushing him to the ground and pulling his fingers out of the ground.

Stitch stood up and looked to see Lilo had freed him by throwing the car. "I don't know what else to try, Stitch," Lilo said, "and we've only got nine minutes left. What should I do?"

"We could always try beating the answer out of Conehead here," Stitch suggested. "Oh, try CONEHEAD."

"Calling me Conehead… now you're asking for it!" 627 grabbed a commercial mailbox and tossed it into the air. He then stretched his mouth to catch it and swallowed it whole, swelling up with the additional mass of the blue metal. He tore out of his remaining clothing and now stood about as tall as a grown man and twice as wide. "You want some of this?" He suddenly shrunk down to normal size again as he poured all of the extra mass into one paw, giant-sizing it and clenching it into a fist. 627 then stretched out the massive fist, sending it at Stitch. Stitch couldn't dodge such a huge attack in time, so he had to protect his face with his hands and was hurled back against the bomb. 627 laughed as he spread the extra mass evenly in his body again, and suddenly disappeared from view.

Lilo typed in CONEHEAD, but the computer responded with another 'INCORRECT PASSWORD' message. "Darn," she muttered under her breath. "What could it be?" She tried H-SERIES, with the same results. "How are you doing, Stitch?"

Stitch looked around him. "I think-" Suddenly, he was crushed into the dirt. "Naga," he said thru gritted teeth. "I've been better." He was hurled across the intersection again, his head slamming into the traffic light and knocking it loose.

"You can't win, Stitch!" 627 appeared again below Stitch, still giant-sized. He plucked Stitch from the light and held him by the scruff of his neck. "Project Massacre will continue as planned! First, I'll kill you two, and the H-Series Experiments will kill everybody you love! Then, we'll jet, and the entire planet will be gone! The only ones left to hunt down will be Gantu and Reuben, and that shouldn't take long."

Lilo sighed as MASSACRE also turned up as incorrect. "Wait... 627, you stupid jerk, there's only seven minutes left! There's no way you'll all be able to escape in seven minutes!"

627 shrugged and dropped Stitch. "Somehow, I couldn't care less. I doubt the bomb's even strong enough to destroy me, and I can probably get back to the ship and have it take off in one minute. As for the others, they can always be recreated. They're just Experiments after all." Suddenly, he lost his balance as he was lifted into the air.

"How can you say that?!" Stitch yelled, somewhat breathlessly as he hefted 627's expanded body. "You're an Experiment yourself!" He tossed 627 into Frenchfry's stand, which he caved in an entire wall of.

627 climbed out, now back to normal size. "Oops, looks like I burnt it all off. Quite the metabolism I have." He shot a laser blast from his eyes at Stitch, who dodged and charged him. "Well, Stitch, I am an Experiment. But that doesn't mean I'm responsible for anybody else, no matter what they have in common with me." As Stitch slashed forward, 627 grabbed his arm and bent it back at the wrong angle, causing Stitch to cry out. "You have to learn to look out for number one sometimes…" he threw Stitch to the ground face-up and stomped his gut. "Or in this case, number 627."

"Get off of him!" Lilo warned.

"Oh, really?" 627 said with a smirk. "What are you going to do? Throw me with telekinesis?" Lilo tried just that, but 627 created a blast of his own telekinesis and dispelled Lilo's. "You aren't physically strong enough, or mentally strong enough, even with that gift 000 was nice enough to leave you. What can you do?" He broke out in laughter, until a fireball struck him in the chest, knocking him off Stitch.

Lilo stood next to the bomb with one hand extended palm-out, and the other clenched at her side. Both were aflame, and a ring of fire circled her. "I can stop you," she said angrily.

**End of Chapter**

**Who will die by fic's end? Will Lilo and Stitch be able to disable the bomb? Why was it in English? Has Mind said more than he should've? Will I EVER get around to bringing back Absolute? Find out the answers to some of these questions in Chapter 21: Tiamat Formation.**


	21. Chapter 21

**avatar: Sorry about the long wait, I was working on my new oneshot, After These Messages (shameless plug). This chapter is nice and long, to make it up to you guys. It needs to be, because there's a lot going on. I hope you enjoy it! Oh, right... avatarjk137 does not own Lilo and Stitch. I only own Maverick, the H-Series Experiments, and the contents of this story.**

**Rebel Ch. 21**

**Tiamat Formation**

"Oooh, fire," 627 said, enraptured by the dancing flames on Lilo's hands. "You know, I can't manipulate fire. There wasn't room for Jumba to give me _everything_, and he decided Splodyhead's plasma was close enough to fire that it would be fine. I am so jealous of you right now. I guess I'll have to get it out by attacking you!" He jumped forward suddenly and made a grab for Lilo's face. Lilo jumped away and blasted him in the chest with more fire, knocking him off his feet, but he just got up and brushed himself off. "Nice try, but you'll need hotter flames to burn me!" 627 thrust all six of his arms into the pavement, and Lilo screamed as they burst from under her feet. She tried to jump away, but they simultaneously grabbed parts of her body, and began to thrash her around and claw at her. "Oh, this _is _fun!" 627 laughed.

"Let her go, bastard!" Stitch clubbed 627 over the head, driving his face into the ground. 627 angrily popped his spines, and his second head extended, turning 180 degrees to face Stitch. It spewed a blast of ice breath at him, but Stitch jumped over it and kicked the new head in the nose.

"Get offa me!" 627 tore his arms out of the ground, letting go of Lilo, and smacked Stitch away. He then forced Stitch into his ball form and threw him into the air, and rolled back so his arms and shoulders were on the ground and his legs pointed up. Laughing, 627 completed the attack by using a bicycle kick to keep Stitch in the air. "Don't forget your place, cousin: RIGHT BELOW ME!"

"And- and- and," Stitch sputtered, trying to speak while being dribbled, "what doe-does that make Mav- Maverick?"

627 instantly stopped laughing. He stood up and grabbed Stitch out of the air, squeezing his throat. "I wasn't aware you were programmed with a death wish," he growled. He cocked back his fist, but a blue fireball slammed into the back of his overly tall head, causing him to snarl and turn. Lilo was on her feet, and she had another fireball in her hand, which was turning from red to blue. "That. Hurt." He threw Stitch into Lilo, knocking them both over, and ran toward them. "Nobody hurts 627! NOBODY!"

"I've got him, Stitch, go crack that code!' Lilo promised.

"But-"

"Please! I can't figure it out!" She blasted 627 with the fireball as he jumped at them, knocking him clear across the street and through a shop window.

"Okie-taka," Stitch sighed as he ran to the bomb. He cracked his knuckles and began typing at a blazing-fast rate. _I've still got three and a half minutes. That's a lot of guesses I can make._

"You're going to fight me without Stitch's help?" 627 emerged from the display window, using two hands to help himself through while three more patted out small fires on his fur and the final hand held a beer bottle. "There's a laugh." He popped the bottle cap in his teeth and downed the bottle in one gulp. "You're goin' down, little girl!" He held up one paw, which contained the last of the fire still smoldering on him, and exhaled onto it. Immediately, a cloud of flame erupted from his paw toward Lilo, who shielded herself with a telekinetic bubble. 627 angrily ran forward and slammed his head into the bubble, pushing Lilo back into a building. He began pushing his claws into the bubble, causing it to waver and vanish. "Any last words?" he asked, grabbing her by her hair.

"Yeah. LET GO OF MY HEAD!" Lilo grabbed 627's arm in both hands and squeezed, causing a cracking noise. 627 let go in surprise more than pain, and stepped back for a moment, allowing Lilo to get back to her feet. Angrily, 627 swung three sets of his claws at Lilo's face, but she dodged the first and grabbed the other two. Then, before he could pull the remaining arm back, she leaned forward and bit down on it as hard as she could, causing pink blood to flow into her mouth.

627 yelled in pain. "You bit me? You BIT me?!" He swung his skull down into Lilo's, jolting her off his arm, and punched her rapidly a few times in the chest, causing her to let go of him entirely and stumble back. Before she could lose her balance entirely, he grabbed her by the neck and lifted her into the air. "You two have become so strong. You could even have defeated me. Unfortunately for you…" he began to squeeze Lilo's throat, cutting off her air intake, and she could swear she saw his right eye change from glossy black to glowing red for a second. "…I've become a bit stronger myself." A shadow flashed by in front of 627, and he twitched his ears, but he didn't hear anything. "Who's there?" The shadow passed again. "Stitch?" he turned, but Stitch was frantically pounding away at the keyboard. "Who _was_ that?"

He was so engrossed in the other person that he didn't notice the small jets of blue flame Lilo had gathered in each hand. She spat on his head, and when he turned back to her angrily, she drove the flames into his eyes. "Ahh! What?" He let go of Lilo and staggered back, clutching his eyes, while Lilo fell to the ground on her back and began gasping for air and massaging her throat. "That hurts like hell!" he cried.

"PASSWORD? No, that's not it… come on!" Stitch suddenly had a burst of inspiration. "Please let this be it…" he typed in LAUGHTER, and was rewarded with a pleasant _ding_ as the bomb shut down. "YEAH!" He ran to Lilo and helped her up. "We got rid of the bomb, Lilo, it's alright!"

"That's great!" Lilo hugged Stitch, then turned to 627. "Or it would be… but… Stitch, I don't think that was ever a bomb."

"What? You mean it was a fake?" A look of realization passed over his face. "Of course. If he really wanted the bomb to go off, why would the keyboard be in English?"

"And why would he leave a big chance of being right next to the bomb when it went off?" Lilo asked.

"Well, it wasn't a fake, to be honest," 627 said, rubbing his eyes. "It was just the detonator. The real bomb is on your moon. I'm fairly certain destroying your moon with a massive concussive blast would be catastrophic to you, but it would give me plenty of time to escape. As for why the keyboard was in English… I just wanted to see if you would get it." He vanished in a swirl of wind and leaves, and reappeared on top of the 'bomb'. "Good work, you guys. I didn't think you had it in you!" He tore the device open and jumped inside, and the walls fell outward around him. "So, what do you want to do now? I could go for another luau."

"What I really want to do," Stitch growled as he advanced on 627, "is beat you senseless and drag you into our food dehydrator."

"Are you sure?" 627 said with a vicious grin. "Because if you start now, you could probably stop the H-series Experiments before they kill anybody you love. Might want to keep your priorities straight, there."

"Shoot, he's right," Stitch muttered. "Come on, Lilo, we've got to go." He turned back to 627 one last time. "I don't ever want to see your mug around here again, cousin. Am I clear?"

"Crystal," 627 replied with a smirk. His eye began to glow red again. "But then, it's hardly ever about what you want." Stitch glared at him and ran off after Lilo, leaving 627 alone. As soon as he was sure they were gone, he began to cough hard into his hand. He looked at his palm, and saw a familiar spray of pink. _What? Blood? What the hell is wrong with me? And who was that other shadow?_ 627 worriedly wiped the blood on his ruined detonator and ran off in a different direction.

* * *

"When I catch you, I'll smear you all over the island!" Maverick screamed. He made a grab for Talon's tail, but missed by a few inches. Talon snickered and somehow ran even faster, pulling ahead yet again. Maverick swore in anger. _This has been going on for way too long._ He started to charge up a bolt of electricity, but only managed a small charge before he lost control and almost hit a coconut tree. _DAMN! I'm pouring so much into the jets, I've got nothing left to generate lightning with. New plan._ "This is your last warning!" 

"Pft. You haven't backed up any of your words so far!" Talon slashed another tree with his tail, letting it fall toward Maverick. As he dodged it, Maverick grabbed a coconut from a falling branch and tossed it at Talon, barely missing his head. Talon growled and turned, and soon they were going steeply uphill. Talon didn't just slash things as he ran, he began to kick them as well; soon, a miniature avalanche of foliage was tumbling down toward Maverick. He flew straight up to dodge it, and made a horizontal beeline for the top of the hill, trying to get there before Talon.

He succeeded. "Hello, douchebag," Maverick said, his arms crossed, as he hovered in front of the panting Talon. "You ready to talk?" Talon turned in place, slashing his tail blade at Maverick, and ran off back the way he came. Although Maverick dodged the blade, Talon kicked up a wall of dirt to keep him from following. "Guess not." Maverick wiped the dirt of his face and shot a few lightning bolts at Talon (none of which hit the mark) before chasing him. Talon was now running downhill with Maverick rocketing after him.

Talon's tentacles lashed out and grabbed a palm frond as he passed, pulling it along with him. Then, as it was pulled to nearly the breaking point, he let go, snapping it back toward Maverick. Maverick sensed the blow coming and tore through the branch with an unintelligible snarl, but foliage still got in his face, causing him to slow for a moment. When he regained his vision, Talon was nowhere in sight. "Where are you hiding, jerk?" Maverick asked. He began to fly forward aimlessly across the Hawaiian rain forest.

Suddenly, Talon burst from the shrubbery directly beneath Maverick and sent his tentacles lashing up. Maverick grabbed all four tentacles, one in each arm, and ignored the bits of plant matter the ambush sent spraying into his face. "Ha! Now you're-" Maverick was cut off from his exultation as Talon drove a very hard kick into his chest, causing Maverick to let go and sending him flying almost straight into the air.

About thirty-five feet up, Maverick regained air control and hovered in mid-air, clutching his chest where he had been struck and panting. Before Maverick could relocate the huge running Experiment, he was right on top of him – Talon had used his massive legs to jump all the way up after Maverick. "Glory to the H-Series Experiments!" Talon cried, flipping forward and bringing his bladed tail down. Maverick, too surprised to use his jets, instead brought up his arms in front of his face and ran an electric current through them. The blade of the tail carved a deep gouge into Maverick's mechanical arms, but was unable to entirely sever them, and instead the force of the blow slammed Maverick back down toward the ground. At the same time, Maverick's electrical charge stunned Talon and caused him to drop without control.

Talon fell to the ground with a dull _thump, _crushing several flowers underneath his large body. Maverick, on the other hand, slammed into the ground seemingly with the force of an anti-personnel explosive, creating a small crater and a plume of dust. Talon wrapped his tentacles around a nearby tree and pulled himself to his feet. "Primary objective completed," he said cheerfully, and ran off in the direction of Pelekai household.

* * *

"Ah!" Jumba ducked under the glob of acid, which melted a nice, large, shapeless hole in the ship's windshield. "Be careful! I am liking this ship!" he ordered, firing another round of plasma shots which all missed Mind. 

"Well, I think it stinks!" Mind lashed out with a tentacle, knocking Jumba's gun from his hand and through the hole in the windshield. He spat another glob of acid at Jumba, who frantically dodged. The glob hit the control panel and began to melt in. "Stop MOVING!" Mind's gem switched to an orange hue, and he breathed a stream of fire at Jumba. Jumba didn't entirely manage to dodge, and his lab coat sleeve caught on fire. The fire quickly spread across Jumba's coat.

"Ahh!" Jumba tossed the white coat away in a panic, and dove out of the hole in the window. He fell about twenty feet before hitting the ground, and rolled a few times before ending up in a panting mass. "Oof," he gasped, "I need to be inventing an Experiment for making people in instant good shape. I am sure Grand Councilwoman would let me be creating _that_ one." He grabbed his modified plasma pistol, which had conveniently landed next to where his head had, and got weakly to his knees. He then noticed Mind poking his sizable head through the windshield and began firing and yelling at him. "You _little idiot! _My ship is being in serious danger of exploding now, and it could take entire island with it! It is filled with highly sensitive material!"

Mind attempted to dodge the shots, but one struck his chin and he fell gracelessly to the grass. "I'm entirely alright with that!" he laughed. "I'm here for killing, aren't I?" His gem turned to a bright blue and he blew a wave of frosty cold at Jumba, freezing his feet to the ground. "Now it's all over for you," he snickered, his gem changing back to the shade of green that signified poison gas. He took in a deep breath…

…And was blown back by a fireball that struck his face. "Get away from Jumba, you overgrown crocodile head!" Lilo shouted, as she ran to Jumba's side. "I'll have you free in no time!" She created another flame and carefully used it to begin melting Jumba's feet from the ice.

"Little girl!" Jumba cried joyously. "You are gaining mastery over 000's powers!" Lilo nodded and continued to melt the ice, not noticing that Mind was back on his feet and charging toward her. "Watch out, Little Girl!" Jumba cried, suddenly noticing the attacking Experiment.

"Gotcha!" Stitch raced in front of Lilo and grabbed Mind by the jaws, keeping him from clamping them shut on Lilo. "Don't worry, you two," Stitch said as he threw Mind to the ground. "I'll always be here to watch your backs."

"It's a good feeling to have somebody watching your backs." Stitch, Lilo, and Jumba all turned their heads to find Sword and Shield emerging from the foliage, confident smiles on their faces. Shield stood still after arriving, while Sword strode easily toward Stitch and the others.

"Yeah, it is," Stitch agreed, not taking his eyes off Mind. "I'm glad to have you two here. You can tell us all about how best to fight your evil cousins."

"Stitch!" Lilo cried suddenly. "Watch out, he plans to stab you in the back! Literally!"

"What?" Stitch jumped into the air, causing Sword's blade to narrowly miss his spine. "Backstabbing bastard…" Stitch began, but he was cut off by Shield rolling into him as he fell, knocking him back into Lilo. "Ow… blitznack…" he got to his feet, rubbing his head.

"I'm so happy to see my family again," Mind began.

"Shut up, Mind-less," Shield snapped. "Heart and Soul told us everything. You haven't held up your part of the job. Jumba's still breathing. You've barely hurt him at all!"

"Well, 627 obviously screwed up his part, too," Mind snapped back, "because the island's still in one piece, and he was in charge! Besides, Talon isn't back yet!"

"And now I am," Talon corrected as he stalked into the clearing. "Maverick's been taken care of, at least temporarily."

"Well, the gang's all here," Heart replied as she fell from the sky and landed on Talon's back. She had evidently been carried by Soul, who swooped down to a lower altitude and came into view. "H-Series Experiments, initiate Tiamat Formation!" She hopped up on top of Talon's head, which he pointed up toward the sky. Soul dropped down and wrapped her arms and legs around Heart's entire body and Talon's upper body. Her form began to shift, flattening and stretching until she completely obscured Heart's entire body and Talon's body down to his hips from view. Mind jumped on top, and sat down apparently on top of Heart, sinking into the new form up to his neck, leaving only his tremendous head exposed.

"So this is what Tiamat formation is," Stitch muttered. "Crazy." The Experiments on top of each other had begun to take on a definite shape, a very draconian shape. Soul had formed a winged 'torso' around Heart, Talon provided the legs and tail, and Mind was a huge, reptilian horned head. However, it was missing arms; instead each socket that could hold an arm had one of Heart's tentacles, one of Talon's tentacles, and one of Mind's tentacles waving from it. Sword and Shield each jumped to an 'arm', and were caught by the flailing tentacles, Sword by his legs, Shield by his tail. As each of the brothers began to reshape to fit their new role, the tentacles twisted together, forming an interesting mockery of a set of upper arms. In a few seconds, Sword had shapeshifted into a long, vicious right arm that ended in a set of wicked, bladed claws (formerly his arm and wing blades; his ankle blades stuck out from the elbow). Shield had become the left arm, which was huge, rippling with armor and muscle, and shielded. It ended in a silver humanoid hand that had been Shield's head.

The others were so mesmerized by the transformation that they hadn't noticed Lilo's watch, revealing all the H-Series Experiments' functions a little while too late. "**Experiment H1: Primary Function, Field Command; Secondary Functions, Retrieval of Rogue Experiments, Tiamat Formation Initiation. Experiment H2: Primary Function, Fire Support; Secondary Functions, Sensor Suite, Tactical Planning, Tiamat Formation. Experiment H3: Primary Function, Power Boost; Secondary Function, Air Support, Tiamat Formation. Experiment H6: Primary Function, Hit-and-Run; Secondary Function, Bait, Chases, Strafes, Tiamat Formation.**"

"Well, well, what have we here?" The huge amalgamation spoke with a nightmarish chorus of voices, all of which seemed at once harmonized and out of key. Standing up straight, the combined Experiment was easily as tall as Gantu and a bit broader, and it had wings and a tail adding to its mass. It leaned down until its face was level with Lilo's, and snorted a weak jet of flame in her face. "Unifying into this form always makes us hungry. We'll need a tasty little morsel to fill us up." Stitch, standing next to Lilo, reared back and punched the draconic monster in the nose. It snorted in anger and reared up. "_We_ are Tiamat. _You_ are about to be lunch."

**End of Chapter**

**In case any of you were wondering what Tiamat formation was, this is it. Nothing says 'teamwork' like everybody fusing into a single gigantic Frankenstein's monster... right? Well, at any rate, Tiamat will be a tough battle for Lilo and Stitch, indeed! And where's Maverick? I guess you'll have to find out... next week!**


	22. Chapter 22

**Avatar: Yeah, hope you like the chapter. The final flashback hopefully shows how Maverick was pre-transformation: an overly opinionated brat whose intellectual maturity exceeded his emotional maturity. I'm probably the first author you've heard in a while talk so negatively about my own character, but it happens. I think it's important that the author doesn't just think their character is the coolest thing on the planet. Speaking of OCs who think they're the coolest thing on the planet…**

**Absolute: avatarjk137 does not own Lilo and Stitch. He only owns the contents of this story, the H-Series Experiments (conveniently rolled into Tiamat for your enjoyment), Maverick and I. Are you ready for the triumphant return of me?! Because you're getting it!**

**Avatar: Yes, it's true, so just enjoy the chapter.**

**Chapter 22**

**Nightmare Carnival**

"Hold still!" The thing that called itself Tiamat reared back with its clawed arm. It swept forward, but Lilo and Stitch had already jumped back to safety, Stitch carrying Jumba with him. "You little rascals can't run for long!" Tiamat snarled. "We're just too powerful!" It spat a fireball at Jumba, which Stitch blocked.

"Jumba, it's too dangerous here!" Stitch yelled. "Get back to the house!" He jumped at Tiamat, who easily swatted Stitch into one of the legs supporting the spaceship. The leg collapsed, bent from the blow, and the nose of the craft fell on Stitch. He managed to claw his way out, and looked up at Jumba's ship. Smoke and flames poured from it. "Jumba, what did they do to your lab?!"

"Lab is not safe burning like that!" Jumba yelled in warning as he ran toward the house. "Is full of scientific projects, and is being powered by an active fusion reactor! If reactor goes while active, whole island could be going _boom!_"

"WHAT?!" Stitch yelped, but Jumba had already retreated. "I kept telling Jumba to get rid of the fusion reactor!" he was looking at the burning ship and scratching his head.

"A little help here, Stitch?!" Lilo yelled. She was desperately dodging Tiamat's claws and bladed tail.

"Right!" Stitch jumped on Tiamat's back and began slashing at the wings. Tiamat roared and stuck its tail up behind it, gingerly stabbing at Stitch to avoid its back. Meanwhile, it swung its shield arm down like a hammer on Lilo, and she was forced to hold the arm up to keep it from crushing her. Stitch slashed the monster's back again, and was finally batted away by the tail, although it didn't manage to skewer him. He instantly got back up, only for Tiamat to swivel its head towards Stitch and began spitting lightning bolts at him. Stitch jumped back toward Lilo, and slashed at the arm pressing her down, but there were no weak points in its armor on Shield's arm. "Whoa!' Stitch suddenly had to jump back to avoid Tiamat's clawed arm, causing the dragon to laugh and slash at him again.

"I'll help, Stitch!" Lilo sent a blast of fire coursing up Tiamat's shield arm, causing it to let go, and she jumped back, letting loose another blast in the face that had formerly been Mind's head. Tiamat just shrugged the blow off, and spat another round of lightning bolts at them. Lilo and Stitch were forced back, and Tiamat pulled back its claws, which began to glow. "Uh-oh," Lilo said.

"So you also remember what comes next?" Stitch asked. "Jump on my signal, Lilo." Tiamat slashed the air, and a tumbling maelstrom of cutting waves shot from its claws and rolled across the ground toward Lilo and Stitch. "NOW!" They jumped over the cutting waves, which plowed into the trees and destroyed several of them. Tiamat just laughed, and three tentacles shot from each of its shoulders, grabbing Lilo and Stitch by the arms and legs and suspending them in the air.

"It's over for you now!" Tiamat yelled gleefully. "All that's left is for us to cook our lunch!" It opened its gaping maw wide, and Lilo and Stitch were treated to the sight of a ball of electricity forming in its throat.

"Hey! Hey, you! Yeah, the ugly one!" Tiamat looked down to see Maverick standing at the edge of the clearing, his clothes covered in dirt and the left side of his face smeared with blood. "You did a pretty poor job of killing me back there!" He charged up a bolt of lightning and fired it at the dragon's chest; Tiamat took the blow without wincing.

"Our apologies," Tiamat spoke through the lightning licking from its jaws. "Let's fix this glaring error." It opened its jaws wide, and a huge, blindingly bright bolt of lightning slammed into Maverick's body. Maverick slid back a few feet, but managed to keep his footing, now glowing himself with power. He thrust all four hands forward, and returned the bolt to Tiamat with even more power. The bolt struck Tiamat in the face, and it staggered back into a palm tree, which splintered like a toothpick under the dragon's weight. "You foul little inferior! We will erase your memory from this universe!" Tiamat's gem flashed to yellow, and it spat what could best be described as a tremendous loogie of acid toward Maverick. Maverick jumped out of the way, and flew toward Tiamat, charging up more lightning.

"You won't be able to lay a single deformed claw on me!" Maverick proclaimed, dodging a swat from Tiamat's shield arm and a slash from its claws. He jetted up and over Tiamat's head, and shocked its tentacles, causing it to let go of Lilo and Stitch. "Take this!" He threw another bolt at Tiamat's head, aiming for the gem, but it had no effect without the extra charge from Tiamat's own attack. "Uh-oh."

"You're lunchmeat, you little whelp!" Tiamat snarled. It extended its feathered wings, and powered into the air, a gust of wind rippling through the grass. It snapped its jaws at Maverick, who evaded, and began to chase him higher and higher into the air.

"Get back here!" Stitch yelled, throwing a boulder at Tiamat. Lilo followed the boulder up with a pair of bright blue fireballs. Tiamat looked down at the projectiles, and its gem turned bright blue. It spat out a breath of cold, which neutralized the fireballs in puffs of steam, but the now ice-encrusted boulder struck it in the jaw, knocking out several fangs, and it fell to the ground. "Get back, Lilo!" Lilo and Stitch jumped backward, and Tiamat crashed to the ground belly-down. Tiamat was closely followed by the boulder, which landed on its head with a satisfying _crack_ before splitting in half.

Maverick hovered down and landed next to Stitch, keeping an eye on Tiamat, which was struggling to its feet. "Stitch, I'm sorry about last night. I've been thinking about it, and I was a real jerk."

"No problem," Stitch said, his mind racing to come up with a plan of attack.

"So what's that_ thing's_ story?" Maverick asked, pointing to Tiamat. "What is it, and how do we beat it?"

"That's Tiamat. It's Sword, Shield, and all the other H-Series Experiments combined into one. As for beating it, I've got an idea. Maverick, Lilo, both of you nail it in the head and I'll close in on it and try to get on its back again!" Lilo and Maverick nodded and each charged up an elemental attack, while Stitch crouched in preparation for a jump. Both Maverick and Lilo let loose with blasts of lightning and fire, and Stitch jumped with a "Yaaaahhh!"

"Fools!" Tiamat brought up its shield arm, which was studded with the same energy-absorbent purple spikes that decorated Shield's back, tail, and arms. It blocked the lightning and fire, and they were absorbed into the spikes, causing Tiamat's entire body to swell against its natural carapace with power. Tiamat then used this extra power to pull back its shield arm and swat Stitch away, punching his body entirely through Jumba's ship/lab this time. Smoke poured from the hole like water from a punctured skin, but there was no sign of Stitch.

"Stitch!" Lilo cried, but she was forced to deal with Tiamat, who spewed out a cloud of poisonous gas at her and Maverick. She jumped out of the way, and Maverick flew over the cloud, causing it to continue into a stand of trees that began to decay on contact with the noxious fumes. "What is that gas? It's horrible!" Tiamat's only reply was to inhale and prepare for another cloud of it. Lilo angrily threw a fireball at Tiamat's face as it began to unleash the second wave of poison vapor, causing the flammable gasses to ignite and combust in Tiamat's face. "That should teach you!" Tiamat shook the flames from its face and laughed before blasting another bolt of electricity at Lilo, knocking her flat on her black.

"Hey ugly!" Maverick landed on Tiamat's snout and began slashing at its face and eyes. "Forget about somebody?!" Tiamat roared at Maverick (revealing that all its teeth had already grown back) and slashed at him. Maverick jumped off, but Tiamat was careful not to hit its own face, and now began sending its tentacles after Maverick, forcing him to continue dodging. _Dang, the thing's too smart to slash itself. I'll have to try something else._

While Tiamat was focused on Maverick, Stitch had been busy fetching one of his most treasured possessions from the burning ship. He didn't mind the fires, because he was immune to their heat; unfortunately, he had found the control panel melted by acid and was unable to shut down the fusion reactor. But when he found his item, he was sure everything would be fine. He climbed back to the hole he'd created in the hull, and whistled, causing Tiamat and Maverick to turn to him.

Stitch threw the blade's sheathe to the ground, and jumped in the air, holding the katana Jumba had bought high over his head. "Banzai!" he cried, preparing to bring it down on Tiamat and sever one of its arms. Tiamat snarled and lashed out with its clawed arm, forcing Stitch to bring his sword down to meet the blades. To Stitch's utter surprise, not only did the four blades counter his slash, they shattered his katana into pieces and hurled him away. He rolled to a stop next to Lilo, who had just gotten up herself and pulled him to his feet. "Well, that was disheartening," Stitch said, pulling several pieces of katana out of shallow cuts on his body.

"Maybe we've been reading too many fairy tales," Lilo suggested sadly.

"Watch out, guys!" Maverick dove in front of Stitch and grabbed the tentacle that was about to wrap around him, shocking it and causing it to pull away.

"Sorry," Lilo muttered. She noticed Maverick panting heavily. "What's up? You seem worn out."

"I didn't sleep well last night," Maverick confessed. "Or at all. And then one of those things in there-" he pointed to Tiamat, which was laughing and slowly advancing, "-led me on a wild goose chase around the island for like a half-hour before catching me off guard and pounding me into the ground. You'd probably be tired, too."

"I've got another plan," Stitch said as they all jumped over a pair of sweeping tentacles.

"As bright as your last one?" Maverick snapped.

"Just listen!"

* * *

None of them had enough concentration to spare that they could notice the diminutive figure watching them. Although 627 was one hundred feet downwind, his sight, smell and hearing allowed him to watch the fight like he was part of the action. "Wow, this is better than the movies! And Tiamat is quite the showboater," he chuckled quietly. "Just like I designed it. Hamsterviel had one good idea, and that was the Experiments being designed to work as a team. But you can't top this as a logical extension of…" 627's monologue was interrupted by another coughing fit, causing him to spray a fine mist of pink blood from his mouth onto the surrounding foliage. "What the blazes?" 627 clutched his chest, his breath wheezing. "Something went wrong. I'm degenerating faster than I guessed… I've got to get back to the base, double time!" He sprinted off for his ship so quickly that he didn't even notice his shadow remaining behind to continue watching. Strangely enough, the shadow then began to slither toward the battle.

* * *

"NOW!" Lilo cried, telekinetically tossing the two frozen boulder halves at Tiamat and jumping toward the monster behind them. Stitch and Maverick jumped along with her, following right behind. Tiamat used its shield arm to smack away the boulders, and slashed at the three with its claws. Maverick used his jets to fly in front of the claws and block one blade with each of his mechanical limbs, using his two fleshy hands to grab the base of the claws and begin shocking them. Tiamat let loose a blast of acid, but Lilo telekinetically redirected the acid and sent it splattering against the ship's hull. Stitch and Lilo both slammed punches into Tiamat's face, knocking out more of its teeth. Lilo held onto the combined Experiment's head and began burning its face, while Stitch flipped away before curling up into a ball and slamming himself into Tiamat's shoulder.

"You're on our last nerve!" Tiamat punched its clawed hand with its balled fist, forcing Maverick loose. It then swatted Stitch to the ground, and used a tentacle to strangle Lilo until her grip loosened, finally throwing her onto Stitch and knocking him over again. Finally, Tiamat turned its attention back to Maverick, spitting a glob of acid at him. Maverick dodged, but he was too slowed by fatigue to dodge all six tentacles afterward. Each tentacle wrapped around one of his limbs and pulled him taut, and Tiamat pulled its claws back, charging them with energy.

"Maverick!" Stitch grabbed a sheet of metal that had fallen from the wing of Jumba's ship, and threw it between Maverick and Tiamat, causing Tiamat's claws to strike the metal instead. However, the massive force of the blow folded the sheet of metal and carried it back into Maverick, slamming him back and into the wreckage of Jumba's ship. He struck his skull on the hull with a gong-like sound, and collapsed to the ground, limp as a rag doll and bleeding pink from a large gash on his forehead. "No!" Stitch ran to him, dodging a lightning bolt from Tiamat, and felt Maverick's neck. "He's out," Stitch reported grimly. "Looks like we'll have to deal with Tiamat ourselves, Lilo."

* * *

_Rahndous Karnderra stepped into the living room of his parents' house, his hooves clacking loudly on the wooden floors. His father didn't look up from one of his books, but his mother did from her whittling. Rahndous's parents had become pretty wealthy in Omnitaurian society due to his mother sculpting wooden art and his father being the town's most prominent historian. They lived in Dharlan, a small town that mostly functioned as a suburb of Hubradja, Omnitaurus's capital city. But all was not well within the Karnderra household, and the troubles had just reached a boiling point._

_"I'm going," Rahndous muttered as he reached a three-fingered hand toward the doorknob._

_"Where?" his mother asked._

_"Dunno."_

_"Be back by dark," Rahndous's father muttered absently._

_"No."_

_"No?" Rahndous's mother was now right behind him. "What do you mean, 'no'?" she snorted._

_"I won't be back by dark, or after dark tonight," Rahndous said shakily. He turned around, his face contorted with anger. "I won't be back ever again!"_

_"Ridiculous! You're only twenty-two, Rahn, barely an adolescent!" his father retorted, putting his book down. "You propose you can survive in the wilderness?" he sneered._

_"Not in the wilderness," Rahndous muttered. He flung the door open. "I'm going to Hubradja, and sneaking on the next flight out of this backward little garden planet!"_

_His mother grabbed him by the back of the collar on the tunic-like clothing he was wearing, and flung him forcefully back into the house, causing him to fall on his rear. "You're not leaving, and I won't hear of you talking – or even thinking – that way about our planet anymore!"_

_"YOU'RE JUST LIKE ALL THE REST OF THEM!" Rahndous screamed. "YOU'RE HAPPY BECAUSE OUR LEADERS SAY WE SHOULD BE! YOU THINK PRESERVING OUR CULTURE AND OUR PLANET'S BEAUTY MEANS OUR PLANET CAN NEVER BE ANY MORE THAN WHAT IS NOW! SURE, THE GALACTIC FEDERATION PROTECTS OMNITAURUS NOW, BUT WHAT ABOUT WHEN THE NEXT GOVERNMENT COMES? WHAT IF IT'S A DICTATOR THAT DOESN'T APPRECIATE A NICE FOREST?!"_

_His mother slapped him across the muzzle, frantically trying to get him to stop. His father simply stared, open-mouthed. They had always known their son had issues about the planet's political stance, but they had never known he felt so strongly. His father was trying to convince himself that his son's worries were unfounded, that Omnitaurus would continue to be safe, when Rahndous got up and began speaking again._

_"So that's all you can do?" He asked, tears streaming down his face now. "You can't argue with somebody, so you hit them instead? Some mother! I can see that we can advance _without_ destroying our culture or environment, but obviously nobody on the planet agrees with me! I'm not happy here, and I never really have been, so why should I stay?!" His mother struck at him again, this time with a broom, tears also collecting in her eyes. Rahndous tried to dodge, but the broom slammed into his shoulder. "So that's how it is," Rahndous spat, but stopped. He noticed his parents staring at his shoulder, and he looked at it. It was glowing brightly. "Whuh… AAHHH!" Rahndous suddenly doubled over in pain as the white glow enveloped his entire body._

_He screamed in pain as his body reconfigured itself. His clothing was burned away, and he began to shrink. His small horns disappeared, to be replaced by one on his nose, and his ears grew larger and took on an upward curve. Violet stripes formed on his white fur, and his inner ear fur turned lavender. His flat teeth acquired rounded points, and his muzzle shortened. His hooves turned into pawlike feet, and his hands grew claws and an extra finger as the nails fell out. His tail shortened slightly, and the tuft melted away. His brown eyes darkened to solid black orbs. Spines thrusted excruciatingly out from his back and head. In a final burst of agony, two extra arms jutted out from under his original pair, causing him one last scream of pain._

_"Ow," Maverick said eloquently. "Ugh…" he added, as he forced himself unsteadily to his feet, clutching his throbbing head, which suddenly seemed a lot larger in proportion to his body. "What in…"_

_"DEMON!" He instinctively jumped away from the broom as his mother swung at him. He didn't even have his eyes open; it just came naturally. He got a vision that if he didn't dodge in a few seconds, his mother's broom handle would strike his face hard from right to left. Further, he instinctively knew every possible option for dodging it and whether any of them would be immediately a bad decision. He wouldn't realize until the next day that he was seeing – and changing – the future._

_He opened his eyes. His mother was now hysterically swinging at him. "Shapeshifter! Demon! Changeling! What have you done with our child?!"_

_"WHAT?!" Rahn screamed. He stopped dodging the broom, and caught it – another option his mind had given him. "I AM YOUR CHILD!"_

_"_LIAR!!_" She screamed. She tried to pull the broom away from him, but only succeeded in snapping it in half. It didn't matter: her words were wounding him worse than what she could do to him with a broom at this point. "Give us our son back!" She kicked him, but he simply allowed the kick to strike his chest, her hoof barely registering as painful to him._

_"You never had your son!" he yelled, dashing between her legs and out the open door, off toward the capital city and the setting blue sun.

* * *

_

"I can't do it," Maverick mumbled, his voice muffled with a combination of dirt, his own blood, and unidentifiable runoff from Jumba's burning ship. "I'm worthless to everybody. No matter what I try, I just get pissed off and make everything worse. I burn one bridge after another. I act like some worthless little kid while Lilo, who actually is some little kid, saves her planet. I'm obviously not good enough to do anybody any good."

"Well, when you put it that way, it's no wonder I'm disappointed." Maverick turned his head to look for the source of the voice. There, under part of the ship that wasn't burning, there was a shadow that provided relief from the light of the ceaseless sun and the roaring flames. Part of the shadow had darkened further, solidifying into a solid silhouette. The silhouette took on the form of a black Experiment, roughly Stitch's shape but noticeably taller and broader. Maverick blinked in confusion, and a pair of white orbs of light flared into life in the middle of the silhouette's face. "I really thought you could do better," the shadow said.

**End of Chapter**

**I'm on the home stretch now! Yeah! Just one more action chapter to go. I just want to say that referring to Tiamat as an 'it', but having Tiamat refer to itself as a 'we' is really annoying. Not easy, I tell ya. Anyway, next chapter Absolute has a little chat with Maverick, and we bring the battle to a close.**


	23. Chapter 23

**avatar: welcome... to the grand finale of the action scene! Ah... you're sad about that, aren't you? Well, don't be. I have one more fic planned to make this a trilogy. It's already beginning to be storyboarded. And I have more plans in the future for the Lilo and Stitch section, so don't you worry about that! Besides, just because this chapter is the story's climax doesn't mean the conclusion and resolution will bore you. Oh, no... judging by what I have so far for chapter 24, there's still some interesting stuff ahead. Here are Bonnie and Clyde with the disclaimer.**

**Clyde: avatarjk137 doesn't own Lilo and Stitch.**

**Bonnie (sitting atop a pile of... stuff): Yeah, we do! We also own Absolute, Maverick, the H-Series Experiments, the contents of this story, and Jimmy Hoffa's body! Possession is nine-tenths of the law!**

**avatar: wait, what?**

**Chapter 23**

**Lift and Separate**

"Who… who are you?" Maverick asked, propping himself up weakly on his elbows. He had thought he'd had headaches before, but nothing delivered a headache like a massive patchwork Experiment dragon slamming him into a spaceship. 627's beating barely even compared.

"I'm Absolute," the shadow replied. "It's thanks to me you're here. I know 627 says that to you, but I get some credit too. I discovered the 628 pod, and without me it would've gone undiscovered for God only knows how long in a locked safe in Jumba's ship. You're very lucky, maybe destined or something, you know that?" He chuckled quietly. "Too bad you suck so much."

"Watch your mouth," Maverick mumbled, getting to his knees.

"Why? You said it yourself," Absolute pointed out. "You're a worthless piece of crap, according to the reliable source that is your mouth. Besides, it's not like you pose a threat to me. You couldn't even hurt me if you wanted to."

"I've had enough of you mocking me!" Maverick stood up and took a swing at Absolute, only to be shocked as his hand passed right through the shadowy Experiment.

"Correction: you couldn't even hurt me if _I_ wanted you to, and I sorely want you to hurt me right now."

"What… what are you?"

Absolute laughed, and the glow from his eyes increased. "I'm Jumba's most powerful Experiment. I'm also much more… and quite possibly, now much less." Absolute turned his head and watched as Tiamat easily shrugged off a fire attack from Lilo and slapped Stitch away. "You know, they could really use some help. The help of somebody who _doesn't_ suck."

Maverick knew it wouldn't hurt Absolute, but it would certainly make him feel better. He set a small bolt straight into the shadow, and was surprised when Absolute completely dissipated. "Hello?" Maverick asked the empty air. "Are you still there?"

Absolute reformed behind Maverick. He was now much less 'fuzzy' in appearance, more like a solid object and less like a shadow. "What did you _do_?!" he asked angrily, advancing on Maverick. Maverick backed up a step nervously, although he wasn't sensing any threats. Absolute suddenly laughed. "Because that was great! It almost hurt me, and now I feel so much more alive!"

"So, If you want them helped so much, why don't you?" Maverick asked bitterly. "Surely you can do better than me."

"No, due to circumstances beyond my control, I'm totally helpless right now." Absolute held his right hand outside the shadow, and it rapidly evaporated, leaving a stump. "See? Oh, by the way, don't call me Shirley." Absolute cracked up. "Sorry, your misery got me in a good mood. No, really, though, you should help them out."

"There's no way," Maverick said. "I don't have the offensive power to deal with that thing! I can't even hurt it unless it spits that bolt breath at me, and it's learning from its mistakes, so that's not going to keep happening!"

"But you can absorb energy, right?" Absolute asked calmly. Maverick nodded impatiently. "Well, then, there's no problem. We're standing in the shadow of a very dangerous piece of machinery that's just flooding the area with energy." He gestured with a clawed hand to the spaceship. "You'd better hurry – this energy's been given to you in some pretty unstable gift-wrap."

"This just might be crazy enough to work," Maverick chuckled. "I owe you an apology, and a thanks-" He stopped. Absolute was nowhere to be found. It was as if he had never been there. "I need a long nap after this," Maverick muttered.

* * *

Stitch managed to jump over the cutting waves released by Tiamat's claws mostly unscathed – mostly. A long gash appeared leading up to his left knee, and he almost collapsed when he landed from his jump. Lilo finished concentrating the flames she had summoned, and sent a spear of bright blue fire spiraling toward Tiamat, but it was all for naught – the massive dragon just extended its wings and flew out of the way. "That was about all I've got, Stitch," Lilo confessed. 

"I know the feeling. I've got one or two shots left in me myself," Stitch agreed. "I'm about running on empty. Hope, boundless optimism, and some adrenaline."

"Great…" Lilo said sarcastically.

"Enough playing," Tiamat interrupted. "It's time we dealt with you fools."

"Hey, I don't know about them, but I'm not done playing yet!" Tiamat snarled as it was once again distracted by Maverick, turning to face him. Maverick stood triumphantly atop Jumba's burning spaceship, albeit a bit unsteadily due to the blood loss and head wound. "Watch this!" He thrust all four hands into the air, palms open and facing the sky, and energy began to swirl up from the spaceship, through his body and into his open hands. Soon, a bright glow swept forth from his hands, which took the shape of an orb. Tiamat, Lilo, and Stitch, all watched entranced as the entire energy flow from Jumba's fusion engine – as well as the rogue energy consuming the ship in the form of fire – was rerouted through the body of Maverick and into his attack.

Maverick's face changed from a triumphant smirk to an agonized grimace as the energy became more and more painful to control. His biological hands dropped limply to his sides, burned and numb, and his prosthetic hands began to disintegrate. Finally, the flames on Jumba's ship died out entirely, all the energy now in the fusion reaction going on above Maverick's head. To say the power of the sun was in the palm of his hand was inaccurate – but only in the sense that Maverick's hands had been annihilated by said power, and it was beginning to work its way down his forearms back towards his actual flesh. "I do love to play," Maverick choked out. "Why don't we play a game of CATCH?!" He swung his arms forward, and the starlike ball of plasma and heat floated slowly toward Tiamat.

To Maverick's surprise, the monstrous hybrid of Experiments laughed and held its shield arm up. "You fool. We'll easily be able to catch this attack, and if you can absorb it, we're certain we could as well. With the energy this shall give us, we can hunt down whoever we desire, tirelessly, for decades to come!" Tiamat threw back its head and roared in horrible, cacophonous, diabolical laughter.

"Too bad for you, then," Maverick snarled. "You will _not _catch this attack!" He jumped from the ship, and his jets flared to life, powering him right into the heart of the slow-moving, world-shattering projectile. Maverick dove into his attack and re-absorbed it for a split second, using his jets to fly over Tiamat's still-outstretched shield arm and drop onto its other shoulder. Maverick then clung to the shoulder for dear life and unleashed the full charge of power into it. Tiamat shrieked in an ear-splitting pitch as its right arm was severed from its shoulder, leaving a burnt stump as a memento.

Stitch and Lilo looked on in shock as the arm crashed to the ground in front of them, and began to regain its original shape. Within seconds, a groggy form was stirring. "Ugh…" Sword said. "Feels like somebody plowed a field with my head…" he struggled to his feet, and looked at Lilo and Stitch, who were bloody, bruised and exhausted. "What happened to you two?" Stitch pointed to Tiamat roaring in pain behind Sword, who turned around. "Oh…" Sword shuddered. "Heart must have taken control of me. I'm so sorry, guys. Has anybody been hurt?"

At that moment, Tiamat slammed its remaining arm into Maverick, pounding him downward. He slammed into the ground next to Sword. "Yeah, he's been hurt," Lilo said, pointing to Maverick. "We've gotten a little beaten up, and Jumba got scratched up. I think everybody else is fine."

"Alright, I'm done," Maverick mumbled. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. You guys finish the stupid thing off."

Sword exhaled in relief. "That's great. It's horrible, getting combined into that thing… you lose all individuality and sense of yourself. You guys are lucky you got me loose. You rest. I can take care of Tiamat."

"All by yourself?" Stitch asked. "How?"

Tiamat extended its tentacles and sent them snaking toward Lilo and Stitch. "Like this," Sword said, and he easily severed all six tentacles. "Of course, I'll need an assistant." He jumped toward Tiamat, one arm blade forward and all his blades charged. Tiamat blocked with its shield, but Sword pulled himself up and over the shield with his arms and drove his wing-blades into Tiamat's remaining shoulder like a wedge. Tiamat roared in pain, and Sword pulled his blade-tips apart, cleanly severing the dragon's remaining arm. "Ha!" Sword jumped away as the arm fell, only to be bashed away by the flat of Tiamat's tail blade. Sword flipped in the air and landed next to Stitch, holding his bleeding nose where it had been struck. "I wish you hadn't seen that."

"The perfect soldier doesn't make mistakes, right?" Stitch asked.

"Exactly," Sword nodded, checking to see how heavily the blood was flowing. Just a trickle, so he let go. "Now, my brother should be awakening."

Sword's statement was correct; Shield was struggling to his feet, having regained his original form. He rubbed his head and looked up at the roaring, armless dragon, then back at Sword. "Right… so we formed Tiamat…" he ran back to Sword, Stitch, and Lilo. "Are we going to finish that thing now?"

"You will not be finishing anything!" Tiamat screamed, but its voice was diminished now. "We will reabsorb you two, and destroy the rest!" More tentacles exploded from Tiamat's destroyed arms, and the cut ones that grew from its shoulders regrew to their full length. It roared, and readied a series of attacks. A total of twelve tendrils flailed in the air, lightning charged in its mouth, it leapt into the air on its wings (assisted by diminished weight), and it readied its clawed feet and bladed tail.

"If my hunch is correct, Tiamat will launch its lightning bolt before attacking with everything else," Sword said. "That's our best chance. We have to all hit it one after another. You all ready?" Shield, Lilo and Stitch nodded. "Okay, good. Break a leg, preferably not your own."

Tiamat, as predicted, spat a powerful bolt of white lightning at Lilo. Shield blocked the blast with one arm, pulling the power into his muscles. He then picked up Sword and threw him in one fluid motion. Sword spun like a top in midair, blades extended, and sliced through most of Tiamat's tentacles before delivering a deep cut along its cheek. Stitch then grabbed Shield by the tail, spun him around and threw him. Shield curled into his spiked wheel state, and slammed into Tiamat's wing with a sickening noise, causing the dragon to fall to the ground and land heavily on its chest. Stitch then curled into a ball, and Lilo picked him up and threw him like a huge, furry baseball. Just as Tiamat was getting up, Stitch struck it in the chest, causing it to gasp and stumble back, off-balance. "No! We will not be denied!" Tiamat cried.

"This is what happens when you mess with our ohana!" Lilo completed the attack by running toward Tiamat and jumping toward it with both fists out, ingniting herself in the process. Sheathed in flame, she slammed into Tiamat's head, decapitating the monster. With three of its components wrenched loose, Tiamat couldn't maintain itself, and collapsed into a pile of exhausted Experiments.

"Uncle! Uncle!" Heart cried. "I know when we're beat!"

"Glad to hear it," a voice said. She looked up to see Sword standing over her, offering his hand. Heart took it gladly, a sweet smile on her face as Sword helped her to her feet. Heart's smile stayed sweet, even as she deviously snuck a tendril behind her back and around toward Sword's rear. Sword effortlessly sliced through the tentacle just before it wrapped around his neck, and drove his knee into her gut, causing her to collapse to the ground with a weak cough. "Now that I've got your attention," Sword said coldly, "we'd like to talk to you guys…"

* * *

"Curse that 627!" Hamsterviel shrieked angrily. "Curse him to and beyond an early, well-deserved grave!" Ever since Mind's hysterical little cackling monologue, Hamsterviel had whipped himself into more and more of a panic over 627's plans. He by now had absolutely no doubt in his mind that 627 had recruited all the H-Series Experiments to his cause against Hamsterviel (true), and upon his arrival, 627 would attempt to kill him (probably true). Therefore, he was coming up with an escape plan. He was all set to make a hasty exit; the current step was his final important step. He had to obtain a new partner. 

"Computer!" Hamsterviel commanded. "Show me the people in charge of all the major and minor powers left in the galaxy opposed to the Federation!" A list of a couple dozen faces and names cropped up onscreen. "Now limit that list to those with a probability of working with me greater than… ten percent!" The list disappeared, and after a few seconds of calculation, was cut down to three. "The rest are arrogant fools anyway," Hamsterviel reasoned. He took a look at the last three names. "The Shadow Syndicate…" Hamsterviel shuddered. "I have no need for crazy partners, I just had one. Noir… he's just a petty thief! Very good at what he does, but no ambition! Jimperator… ugh. He wants to take over the universe as a _benevolent_ conqueror," Hamsterviel stated mockingly.

"All fools," he concluded. "Stupid, unintelligent, foolish imbeciles who are low on brains!" After a few seconds, this information sunk in. "None of them will work! I'll need to break out a prisoner… COMPUTER! Bring up a list of prisoners that could significantly help me face 627 if I broke them out!" This time, it was one name, one face, one short description. "No…" Hamsterviel pleaded. "Please, anyone but him! ... Fine. Computer… Open a covert line to the cell of Leroy."

**End of Chapter**

**Still confused as to what's going on with Absolute? Good, you're supposed to be. As for the final scene, The Shadow Syndicate and Jimperator are real authors I'm giving a shout-out to. Noir, I just made up.**

**Next chapter: Leroy and Hamsterviel have a little chat, 627 gets named, and Maverick goes home. All in Chapter 24!**


	24. Chapter 24

**avatar: Well, here's the penultimate chapter of the fic. Actually, most of the conclusory stuff is here. The final chapter more gets ready for the final leg of the trilogy. I hope you like this!**

**Kherris: avatarjk137 does not own Lilo and Stitch. He only owns Absolute, Maverick, the contents of this story, the H-Series Experiments, and me. Want to see what happened to my crew and I? Check it all out next chapter. Or don't. Whatever.**

**Rebel Ch. 24**

**The End of Beginnings**

"No," Leroy said flatly. He had his arms crossed as he quietly spoke into the videoscreen that had unexpectedly lowered from his cell. Hamsterviel considered the amount of infiltration he had in the GF prisons unparalleled, and for once he wasn't just being arrogant. The walls of the prison may as well have been made of soap bubbles, for Hamsterviel could penetrate the GF security just as easily. Still, this influence did not extend to the minds of the prisoners, least of all this one.

"But why?" Hamsterviel whined. "I could promise you fame, fortune, glory… a position of power, second only to myself!"

"As I recall," Leroy said shakily, "you already did, upon creating me." Hamsterviel was amazed with the changes ten months in prison had wrought in Jumba's final Experiment. Leroy's English was perfect; he had learned faster than Stitch with just a couple of dictionaries and a textbook. The tattoo Leroy had inflicted upon himself had been infused with some blue dye, allowing it to properly stand out against Leroy's face. He had another tattoo; dates ran up one of his ragged ears and down the other. Hamsterviel, upon reading them, discovered they were birth and death dates: the birth date was the day Jumba created Leroy, and the death date marked when Leroy was incarcerated, two days later. Perhaps most frightening was the emotionless, robotic expression on his face. If one weren't looking into Leroy's eyes, one would get the impression that he _was _dead. On the other hand, if someone did maintain eye contact with him, they would probably soil themselves. The effect was as if all the anger in the universe poured from his eyes and crushed the breath from one's body.

"That was…" Hamsterviel began, but he faltered, and Leroy picked up ferociously where he left off.

"That was how you always conduct business, _Doctor,_" Leroy sneered, forcing out the word 'doctor' with as much mockery as possible. "I've heard the stories from the other prisoners. You never carry through with promises like the ones you gave me! You treat those who work for you, faithful or otherwise, like mere pawns, toy soldiers! Is that why you had me cloned, _Doctor_? Is it because you wanted thousands of little toy soldiers?"

"I-"

"If I'm not mistaken," Leroy continued venomously, "you called me to help you kill off your current partner. Your _partner, _Hamsterviel! The first one you've ever promised an equal share in your conquest! And you're calling me, offering me to kill him, and what do I get? A lesser position than his?"

"This is different!" Hamsterviel yelled. "He plans to kill me as well."

"And no wonder!" Leroy cried in triumph. "You're planning to do away with him behind his back! Which came first, I wonder?" Leroy regained his calm composure. "Word around here is that 627 is capable of wiping out whole armies in a matter of minutes. The GF doesn't try to arrest him because they don't think they have the total manpower necessary to bring him down. That's the only reason you're still a free man… you're living under the umbrella of fear that 627 generates. I'm a fan of his work. Maybe you'll be his latest project."

"Please, Leroy, I'm desperate! Just listen to me for once!"

"I listened to you plenty when I was young and naïve!" Leroy shot back. "I hung on your every word! And now? Now I have nothing but hate for you. I have a long list of people who need to die before I'll be happy, and you're at the top. You, who are partially responsible for my existence. You, who brought me into this world, made me what I am today and forever will be. You, who promised me greatness, and all manner of worldly pleasures. And you, whose actions have ensured I never tasted one of those worldly pleasures. I've never worn a nice set of clothes… never enjoyed a hot shower… never had a good meal… never seen a movie…" Leroy stopped, and Hamsterviel could see the red Experiment convulsing in anger, grinding his sharp, yellow teeth, his claws digging into his arms as he hugged himself.

"Leroy, you fool, I know what your future holds!" Hamsterviel insisted. "You have a d-"

"Oh, look," Leroy said, calm again. "Your _partner_ is back. I won't keep you." Hamsterviel turned around in fear, to find a very angry-looking Experiment 627 standing at the door. He was growling slightly and clutching his chest, and pink Experiment blood was dripping from his mouth. On the other hand, he didn't actually seem to be focusing on Hamsterviel or the person he was calling. He walked right by the shocked Hamsterviel, into another room, where he could be heard noisily searching for something.

It took Hamsterviel a moment to realize that Leroy was still talking, and turned back to him. "Thank you, Jacques von Hamsterviel," Leroy stated plainly. "Thank you for creating me. Now, get out of my sight. I don't want to look at you again until it's time for me to kill you." He swung his paw forward, and the screen went black. Hamsterviel realized he must've destroyed the device on his end.

The little white would-be dictator, now all alone in the room, swallowed nervously. _I wonder what that maniac's doing in the other room. It must be important, if he hasn't stopped to kill me yet. Wait, he hasn't killed me yet! I wonder what he's doing._ Hamsterviel took a deep breath and walked into the room. 627 was frantically running from cabinet to cabinet, pulling the doors open, often so hard that the doors would tear from the hinges. Hamsterviel was wondering what was causing the evil Experiment to panic so much, but realized after a moment of watching this that he was yanking the cabinets because they were all locked. 627 was simply tearing through the tumblers like rice paper. "What are you doing?" he finally asked.

627 looked up for a split-second before returning to yanking open doors and drawers. "Oh, yeah, the plan. It didn't work. Lost all the H-Series. Sorry. I'll do better next time. Blah, blah, blah."

"You lost?!" Hamsterviel yelped in horror. He thought 627 would at least have taken care of all his other worries. Now he still had to deal with Lilo, Stitch and the others… that was not something he had planned on. "How?! You had Tiamat! You had yourself!"

"Both beaten," 627 replied. "Damn it all! Where did I put them?!"

"You had a bomb!"

"Lilo and Stitch took out the detonator."

"But you said you just wanted to see if they could! You brought a _second_ bomb!"

"I didn't feel like using it on Earth. I took out Helio Prime instead. It'll be all over the news this evening." 627 swore under his breath, and turned to Hamsterviel fully for the first time. "I kept one cabinet to myself. _One._ The rest got filled with your stuff. Why didn't you mark the _one _cabinet that's mine?!"

"I kept in a whole different room," Hamsterviel said. "But that's not the point, you half-wit! Why didn't you destroy EARTH?! That's where our enemies are!"

"They beat me fair and square. I wouldn't have enjoyed it. Now where did you put the cabinet?!" 627 was likely about to threaten Hamsterviel, but he was interrupted by a fierce fit of spasmodic coughing. Collapsing to his knees and clutching his chest, 627 spat large quantities of blood onto the floor in front of him. That's when Hamsterviel realized that for once, 627's mouth was full of his own blood.

"What happened to you?" Hamsterviel asked, genuinely curious, if not concerned.

"I've just got a minor virus," 627 responded shakily. "I'll be fine in a few days." He coughed up another spatter of blood. "Where… where did you put the cabinet?"

But Hamsterviel wasn't about to reveal this to 627 until he found out the truth. "Experiments don't get viruses, 627. What did you really do? I don't need to be a medical doctor to tell that you've screwed yourself up internally." No response. "627, what did you do?!"

"Not 627," the weak, bleeding Experiment gasped.

"What?"

"I… I named myself. I'm not 627 anymore." Despite the copious blood loss he had suffered, he straightened up and locked eyes with Hamsterviel. "It's Bloodbath."

"Well, _Bloodbath,_" Hamsterviel said, "the cabinet's in the room behind me. You walked right by it in your foolish sickness and distraction. But you aren't getting it until I get some answers! I've been afraid of you for a long time… but now you're dying on your feet, you little bastard!" He pulled a plasma blaster from his cloak. "For a start, what did you really do to yourself?"

"You've got a lot of guts, rat," the newly christened Bloodbath chuckled, blood leaking from his nose now as well as his mouth. He was lurching rhythmically forward and backward now, in what could have been either a fighting stance or a state of semi-consciousness. "But I can kill you from my deathbed without breaking a sweat." He stumbled up to Hamsterviel, whose shaking hand caused two plasma blasts to go wild, and knocked away the blaster. With his other hand, he picked up the cuddly little mad scientist by the large 'H' clasp on his cape and slammed him into the wall. "Or did you forget that?"

"You _must _be dying," Hamsterviel sneered. "You barely hurt me at all! And you forgot something, too. My species _doesn't have a tuft on our tails!"_ Bloodbath stumbled back, growling and clutching the wound on his wrist, and Hamsterviel slid to the floor, the furry tuft on his tail opened to reveal a short blade of plasma. "I had this installed in high school, and it's finally helped!" Hamsterviel laughed shrilly, adrenaline coursing through his veins at the success of beating back an entity that could normally slaughter him in an instant.

"Impressive," Bloodbath said, gripping the wall to steady himself. "Hamsterviel…" he said suddenly, "how'd you like to be _my _minion?"

Hamsterviel's jaw dropped for a moment before he threw his head back and laughed even harder. "You… _your _minion? Please! I just knocked you back! You're in no position to talk down to _me_, you filthy little snot! Besides, I know every trick in your playbook!"

"Heh…" Bloodbath looked in a mirror on one of the cabinets. He was living up to his new name quite ironically, absolutely dripping with his own blood. "You wanted to know what I did to myself, Hamsterviel." Bloodbath's right eye suddenly began to glow bright red, and a twisting, spinning darkness ringed it and began to spread outward. He turned back to Hamsterviel. "Well, I installed a few new pages in the playbook. Last chance."

"No…" Hamsterviel said stubbornly, but Bloodbath's change frightened him. That eye was familiar to him… not like Leroy's eyes which had tormented him earlier, but they resembled another Experiment that inspired exquisite fear… that eye reminded him of the Experiment that had actually nearly killed him in the past. Hamsterviel's heart skipped a beat when he realized he had just denied Bloodbath, who bore one eye of 627 and one eye of 000.

Bloodbath gestured, and Hamsterviel lifted from the ground, and slowly floated toward his former partner-in-crime. "So be it. Any last words?"

"Spare me…"

"A coward's end, then." Bloodbath gently exhaled, and Hamsterviel's look of fear was perfectly preserved as all the heat left his body in the space of a second. "I'll have plenty of time to make you art later," he added, walking around the new gerbil-sicle. "But in the here and now, I'm dying." He punctuated the sentence with a nasty cough, and the blackness disappeared from his fur along with the red glow from his eye. "Feels like I'm hacking up all four of my lungs."

Bloodbath walked into the room where Hamsterviel had contacted Leroy, and instantly recognized _his_ cabinet among all the junk up against the wall. He wrenched the door open, neither remembering nor caring that his was left unlocked, and felt a rush of cool air from the refrigeration unit he had installed. The cabinet was filled with vials, which were filled with pink liquid. 627 had come up with the name Bloodbath when thinking about his own obsession – he just couldn't get enough blood. He even actually _had _fantasized about bathing in the contents of this refrigerator. "And here I am, covered in my own blood. Isn't that funny," he said to nobody in particular, and gave a wheezing cough. Suddenly, his heart felt like it was exploding, and he collapsed to the ground. "Come on, come on…" he shakily grabbed a syringe tip from the cabinet door, and attached it to the nearest vial.

Bloodbath summoned all his remaining strength, and rammed the vial into his black heart, sinking the special diamond tip of the syringe thru his nearly impenetrable skin. He watched as the contents of the vial slowly poured through the tip (no time for a proper syringe with a pump), flooding his arteries with new blood. The pain subsided, as did the urge for his throat to cough and spasm. Bloodbath weakly shut the cabinet door and just lay there, on the hard floor, with a tube sticking up from his chest. Finally, he began to laugh.

Bloodbath snickered because of all the new power he had. He giggled because somehow, he had made a mistake when acquiring the power, and it was now tearing him apart more ferociously than any cancer. He cackled because of the delicious irony of it all, the ultimate killer being forced to rely on his own blood to survive. But mostly, he laughed because he didn't know what else to do. It is said that laughter is what the brain does when it has no other idea on how to respond. Perhaps that is why Bloodbath laughed until he cried, his screams of ecstacy continuing deep into the night. Or maybe he was laughing because he had essentially killed the ultimate foe – himself.

* * *

"Well, that's about all there is to it," said Cobra Bubbles. "As a licensed parapsychologist, I hereby pronounce you in proper mental health for space travel." 

"I thought Earth at large didn't know about life on other planets," Maverick said. "How'd you get the authority to do this kind of thing? Not that I'm complaining."

"I'm one of only five people on the planet licensed to do this sort of thing," Cobra said. Then he lowered his sunglasses, and added with a wry smile, "but the CIA is discussing selling the license online. So you never really know." He sighed. "Looks like I've got my work cut out for me. Four more fake identities to go with the first two. I think I'll be able to swing it if I arrange for them to all live together, but you all will owe me a few favors."

"Of course we will," Pleakley said gratefully. "It's worth it to have that little jerk off our backs. OOF!" This last exclamation was from Jumba elbowing him, indicating for him to be quiet.

"Thanks for helping out, again," Nani added. "I really don't know where we'd be without a friend who's a well-connected former CIA agent."

"Probably not nearly as well off," Cobra said, turning to leave. "And that's job satisfaction enough for me. We'll be in touch… when the house is ready, if not sooner."

There was an uncomfortable silence, which was broken by Maverick. "So, I met this creepy Experiment during the fight, and he helped me out. But he slinked off before I could thank him. You guys know where he is?"

"Depends," Lilo said. "What's the name of this creepy Experiment?"

"Absolute." The ohana's reactions to the name were varied; an involuntary shiver in Pleakley's case, a look of interest in Jumba's. Lilo set her jaw, and Stitch looked away. Nani bit her knuckle, then looked in the opposite direction as Stitch. "What?"

"Absolute gave us some trouble a while back," Stitch said. "I told you, it's because of him that 627 got out and Lilo had powers, right?" Maverick had a moment of realization; Stitch had mentioned in passing when telling Maverick about 000 that he had been named Absolute. "Anyway, he left Earth. Hasn't been here in two months."

"You sure? Because I talked to Absolute."

"Maybe you were hallucinating," Lilo said. "This was when you got your head slammed, right?"

"No, I definitely saw him," Maverick said. "How would I hallucinate about somebody I've never met?" Everybody still had some doubt on their face, and he suppressed a wave of annoyance. "Here, I'll describe him to you, and if it sounds like somebody else, stop me: he was dark, like black, but he had glowing white eyes. Kinda Stitch-y looking in shape. He was doing a scary voice, I have no idea if that's what he really sounds like. He taunted me into attacking him, and then my fist went right through him. Oh, and he-"

"That was all sounding about right until you were saying your fist went through him," Jumba interrupted. "000's powers are being both physical and psionic-based, but they are not including ability to become intangible."

"He didn't _become _intangible, he was that way the whole time. He did say he was 'diminished' or something. Maybe that's why he didn't help us fight."

"Well, it's disconcerting that you saw him, whether he was there or not," Stitch said. "We'll just have to keep an eye out for him."

"You'll have to do it without me," Maverick said, "because I am out of here."

"What?" Stitch said. "You're just leaving, the moment you can?"

"Definitely," the transfigured Omnitaurian confirmed. "I've got enough sense not to stay where I'm not welcome any longer than I have to."

"You're always welcome here, Maverick," Lilo said comfortingly.

"Thanks, but I know you two don't enjoy my company," he said, gesturing to Nani and Pleakley. "Thanks for putting up with me, by the way, I know I'm totally insane."

"Where are you to be going?" Jumba asked.

"Well, after I go get my ship off the dojo's roof, I'm going to go back to my old crew. See if they still want me. And then… I think I'll go home for a while." Maverick smiled. "Maybe it's just my programming talking, but I feel an urge to incite a revolution."

"Is nonsense," Jumba laughed. "You wouldn't have been transforming if you were not wanting revolt already."

"Glad to hear it," Maverick said with a grin. "Don't worry, I'll stay in touch." And with that, he walked out the kitchen door. Lilo and Stitch followed him out to say goodbye, but he was already gone.

"He must be uncomfortable with goodbyes," Lilo said.

"Well, at least he doesn't draw them out," Nani said. "Come on inside, Lilo."

"You too, 626," Jumba said. "I am needing help in filing insurance claim. Lab was IRREPARABLE!" Stitch turned to close the door after Lilo, but before he did, he caught a familiar scent. He sniffed the air in alarm, but the scent was gone, and Stitch closed the door, contented that his ohana was safe… for the time being.

**End of Chapter**

**Yes, that's the end of Hamsterviel. No, that's not the last we'll see of Leroy or Bloodbath. And no... you don't get to find out what happened to Absolute yet.**

**Next Chapter: An argument over breakfast, a happy reunion, a new goal, an ancient book, and a severed head. For serious.**


	25. Chapter 25

**Avatar: Here's my Merry Christmas present to you all - the final chapter of Rebel Without a Cause! If you celebrate Hannukah, I've given you twenty-four chapters already, so imagine the last eight were Hannukah presents. If you celebrate something else entirely, too bad.**

**Stitch: avatarjk137 does not own Lilo and Stitch.**

**Lilo: He only owns Maverick, Absolute, the H-Series Experiments, the crew of _The Protest_, Gantu's shipmates, and the contents of this story.**

**Avatar: That was the disclaimer. Now enjoy the last chapter.**

**Chapter 25**

**Sowing Red Seeds**

"Good morning," Lilo said musically as she took her seat around the breakfast table.

"I smell coffee," Stitch muttered, a drip of saliva hanging down from his lips. "And I need it." He opened his mouth wide, and poured the whole pot into his mouth. Then he shook his head vigorously, seemed to gain some realization of where he was, and began to make a new pot, which had become a semi-regular ritual with him.

"Who made the oatmeal today?" Lilo asked Jumba hopefully. Jumba was typing away on his laptop, spooning the mushy food absently into his mouth. "Nani or… Pleakley?" She knew Pleakley's cooking skills were improving, but she still remembered a certain trip to the emergency room that had been caused by her 'aunt' working with oats in the past.

"Neither," Jumba said. "I was preparing nutritious breakfast paste. Have been up for over an hour searching for new spaceship online."

"Oh, that's good," Lilo said in relief. Jumba's skill in chemistry made him a solid cook, and the fact that he was a mad scientist meant he was more creative with it than most normal scientists would be. When he did take the time to cook, it was arguably the best food in the house. She spooned out bowls for herself and Stitch, sat down, and squirted some honey into the bowl.

Pleakley walked into the room, staring at a crystal ball, and sat down. "Having Maverick in the house for a week got me thinking about precognition. Lilo, you never told me Earthlings had ways to tell the future. And to think, all a human needs to see the future is a deck of special cards or a sphere made of crystal. _Fascinating. _We Plorgians-"

"You are knowing that precognition is load of bunk, correct?" Jumba asked.

"I like the stuff. I think some of it is real," Lilo said. "Not the horoscope stuff, but some of it, sure."

"Lilo's right, Jumba!" Pleakley said defensively. "I may not know if telling the future in humans is bunk, but I know that it exists all over the galaxy! It might well exist in humans too!"

"Precognition exists in this galaxy?" Lilo asked.

"Yeah, I'd heard that," Stitch nodded. "Where, Pleakley?"

"Well, Jumba's already created an Experiment that saw the future," Pleakley said with a confident smirk, "which should be proof enough."

"That is my genius at work," Jumba said. "Besides, Maverick could be changing the future by seeing it. Be showing me one place where precognition is naturally occurring, and where future is unchangeable."

"How about Plorg?" Pleakley replied smoothly. "My race, I'll have you know, contained some of the greatest prophets in galactic history."

"So that's where your species' other eye is," Stitch laughed. "It points to the future."

"Ha ha, very funny," Pleakley said after swallowing his oatmeal. "I'm serious! Haven't you heard of the _Prophecies of the Plorgians_?"

"Ah, yes," Jumba replied distastefully, "it is called 'the book of coincidences' in the scientific community."

"You scientists are always just doubting Zorxes," Pleakley shot back. "Half the book's already come true, and in order! Just… never on Plorg."

"What are the _Prophecies of the Plorgians_?" Lilo interrupted.

"They were made by a group of wise men from my planet shortly before our first interstellar contact. One prophecy after another has come true, but not one directly concerns Plorgians," Pleakley explained. "It's really very strange."

Jumba was about to open his mouth and explain why it was all just a coincidence (something about prophecies being general and cryptic enough that they were open to too much interpretation), but he was interrupted by Nani hurrying in. "I'm late," she cried breathlessly, causing everybody else to sigh in exasperation. "Lilo, there's a bottle of megavitamins I just bought on a friend's recommendation in the pantry. I want you to have one after breakfast. LuvyaBYE!" Nani was out the door before Lilo could argue that the residual effects from the bite of an alien Experiment had rendered her indestructible and immune to disease, so there really wasn't a point to being on a vitamin regimen.

Lilo shrugged and grabbed the bottle, popping one into her mouth as she read the back of the bottle. As far as she could tell, it had about 5 times as much as a growing person could need… of every vitamin a growing person could need. "Wow, I wonder how they cram it all into such a small pill," Lilo wondered. She offered the bottle to Jumba and Pleakley, but Pleakley pushed the bottle back, shaking his head.

"No thanks, Lilo. Those vitamins are tailor-made for HUMANS. If you haven't noticed, we're not humans. Those vitamins will probably do _horrible _things to us if we take them!"

"Like what?"

"Are you remembering the time I was having large orange pustules covering my face?" Jumba said. "I was accidentally taking Pleakley's Plorgian multivitamins instead of high blood pressure medication meant for me."

"Then why can we all eat each other's food?"

"Food is being one thing, but those pills are having _outrageous_ amounts of the vitamins only earthlings are needing. Chances for severe reactions are being much higher."

"Oh, okay." Lilo frowned. "I don't like taking pills. I hope Nani doesn't make me take them all summer."

* * *

"Yes, finally!" Maverick cheered as _The Protest _came into view on his monitor. Although of all the places he'd stayed, this one was only a home in the loosest sense, it felt more like a home to him than anywhere else. It would be great to be back aboard the blue-red hammer-headed ship, with other Omnitaurians who knew him and understood him, who mostly even got along with him. And he wondered if they still wanted him as their captain, now that he was actually ready to fulfill the position. "Wait… what's going on?" 

About a mile from _The Protest _was another frigate of similar size, a black-and-violet thing that was all spikes and swooping curves. The two were slowly circling each other, and between them were two smaller ships. One was a simple black fighter; a winged pod with a pair of blasters on the main body and some short-range missile launchers on the wings. The other was a fighter that Maverick recognized as belonging to his crew, used for when they needed a smaller ship. It was also painted in red and blue, with a belly-mounted rapid fire blaster as its sole armament. The real trick lay in the force field. A pair of short, stubby wings each ended in a round cage about a meter in diameter. Inside the cages were spheres of light, tell-tale signs of a force field generator. As long as the contents of the cages were intact and powered up, everything between them (the rest of the ship and its pilot) would be encased in a one-way force field. The two fighters were engaged in a fierce dogfight in the middle of a sparse asteroid field.

"Identify yourself," a voice rang out on Maverick's ship. A very familiar male voice.

"Calder!" Maverick exclaimed happily. "It's me, Maverick!"

"No way! I never thought I'd see you again! We were hacking into the GF mainframe, and there was no record of you being kept in any prison, but if you had gotten imprisoned, we'd have busted you out of there! But we had no idea what happened until you called us!"

"Well, don't worry, guys. I'm back, and I'm planning to stay this time. Say, do you think I could dock this stupid thing?"

"Yeah, sure." A hatch soon opened in the rear of the ship, and Maverick piloted the unarmed GF ship inside. His guess had been right; basic piloting wasn't actually all that hard. It was probably combat piloting and the large craft that were tough jobs. He walked out of the hangar and up to the bridge, and a cheer greeted him as soon as he walked in.

"Maverick's back!" Brennen and Darnun cheered, with Calder joining in slightly off-sync with the twins. The rest of the crew cheered as well, putting Maverick's fears to rest. Kherris cheered, and waved Maverick over. As soon as he did, she thrust a drink into his hands.

"Glad to see you back, captain. Come on, sit down, the show's not over."

"Show? What show?" Maverick realized they were watching the dogfight on a large monitor. "What's going on? I asked you guys to stay out of trouble!"

"You asked us to stay out of trouble _with the GF._ And we are. Jovus is in that ship. With captain Drak dead, all the other space pirates have been pushing in on our turf. We're defending ourselves from that crew over there with a little duel right now. We agreed not to waste resources with the big ships. Just a little honor duel – our best pilot against theirs."

Maverick turned to the screen and watched. Jovus was being trailed by his opponent, who was shooting missiles at the force field generators. Jovus braked hard, and the opponent's ship smashed into his shield bubble. As the other fighter stuttered, Jovus did a somersault and swung around behind him. His opponent tried to accelerate away, but Jovus fired a stream of shots towards his opponent, destroying two of the other ship's four stabilizer jets. The wounded fighter craft limped back to the larger frigate, and Maverick and the crew cheered. "Got him!" Jovus's voice yelled over the commlink. "This asteroid field is still our territory! Hey, Kherris, who was that ship that arrived earlier?"

"It was me," Maverick replied. "How are you doing in there, Jovus?"

"I'm fine. I cooked the other guy's tin can, though." Jovus's voice crackled for a sec. "Incoming transmission from the other ship."

A purple, pterodactyl-like face with glowing yellow eyes appeared on the corner of the screen. "This isn't over," he hissed.

"Yeah, sure, whatever, Rid," Kherris replied. "And maybe I'll tear out my horns and build you a harp with them. Now get out of here." She turned the screen off. "Okay, so… Maverick, are you ready to take on the role of captain?"

"If you still want me… sure. I'm ready."

"WOO!" The crew cheered.

"I think I know what this calls for," Kherris laughed. "I'm thinking party time, and then we pull a heist. It's been a while since we pissed off authority or had a good reason to get drunk!"

"Gotta disagree with you there," Maverick said. The room suddenly got very quiet, and Jovus's re-entry into the room went unnoticed. "Well, not about the party. Let's have a party. But after that, I'm not sure I want to lead us back into piracy. My Experiment body makes me too high-profile; if I lead us in any raids, the GF will go right after us. Besides, I'm not sure about all of you, but for me, piracy has been a form of escapism. I wasn't facing my concerns back home… back on Omnitaurus. I don't expect all of you – or any of you, even – to join me, but I'm going back home. And I'm starting a rebellion. Just think! For each member of our crew, each poor Omnitaurian who couldn't function in the current society, there must be dozens more who died before meeting us. I can't stand for that. I'm going home, to fix our government the only way I know how – with a good wake-up slap to the face!

"If any of you want to leave, you can go. I'm not going to stop you, it's your choice. If you _all_ want to leave, you can even take the ship. But I, for one, want to take _The Protest_ and take it where it's meant to be a protest. I want to make a difference."

"I don't know…" one of the others, a young, rebellious son of an Omnitaurian aristocrat, had spoken up, tweaking the rings on one of his horns doubtfully. "I swore that I'd never go back to Omnitaurus. I swore I'd make my name out here among the stars."

"I made about the same promise to myself," Maverick said. "That was only ten weeks ago, and now I've felt I've left my mark on the stars. I'm ready to come back home. But if you're not ready, nobody's stopping you."

"I'm with you, captain," Kherris said confidently. "I've never gotten to see our planet except for a few hours at a time; I was just an infant when my family left. It'll be fun. Plus, I've never helped to lead an army before."

"At least you helped to lead before," Maverick said. "I'm grateful you'll be there, I need your experience."

"I'm in, too," Calder said. "Being a pirate wouldn't be the same without captain Drak anyway. New captain, new direction in life. That's my Lord's way."

"We're in, too…" Darnun promised.

Brennen continued, "you'll need all the help you can get."

"Sure, why not?" Jovus said. "Maybe on Omnitaurus somebody will listen to me." More voices of assent could be heard, and Maverick smiled.

"All right," he said happily. "We'll drop off whoever wants to look for a new crew, and we'll head home. I think they'll be _very surprised _to see us. But first… we have one last party together as a pirate crew!"

_"YYAAARRR!!"

* * *

_"Junk. Crap. Trash. Drek. GARBAGE!" Bloodbath angrily threw an entire cabinet of Hamsterviel's possessions over his head. Had Hamsterviel always been such a pack rat? Bloodbath had planned on leaving some things there, for the GF to collect as evidence (and he was pretty sure they'd be coming, after the nice package he mailed them with return address) or reparations or for Hamsterviel's relatives to claim (he was pretty sure the gerbil had a neice) or whatever. But he wished Hamsterviel had a _few_ more things of use to him laying around the lab. He would certainly take the weapons and food that weren't outdated, but the scientific and personal stuff was mostly worthless to him. He didn't want to create any more Experiments; his had all betrayed him, after all that work he and Hamsterviel had done. Fine then. If creations betrayed Bloodbath, he'd return to destruction; it was his forte anyhow.

"Let's see… Hamsterviel's books! Family photo album?" He threw it carelessly over his head. "College photo album?" Also thrown in a random direction. "_Galactic Domination and You_… _Conquer the Known Universe in 15 Easy Steps_… _Control Planets Now! Ask Me How_…" he checked them out closely. The first two were written by a celebrity and a cartoonist, but the last was written by a politician, so he burned it and put the other two carefully down beside him.

"_Fur Grooming for Dummies_… Firewood. What's this? _Use Your Superior Mind to Get Laid._ So it's true; mad scientists become mad scientists because they can't fulfill their sexual fantasies…" Bloodbath laughed and threw the pair of books into the burning pile he had already gathered. "Wait… what have we here? This one's dusty…" the orange Experiment grinned and gently blew the dust and years off of the cover. "_The Prophecies of the Plorgians…_ I didn't know the little rat was superstitious."

* * *

Gantu's eyes narrowed dangerously. "You think you've beaten me, fool?" 

Jorg, his opponent, chuckled. "I think I've got this battle about wrapped up. You should give up now, and save yourself the humiliation!"

"We'll see who's humiliated tonight!" Gantu gritted his teeth, and summoned up a reserve of strength that was beyond what even he thought he had. Jorg gasped in horror as Gantu swung his arm around, and scored another victory… in arm wrestling. Jorg, a soldier of the same race as Gantu, was skinnier and had skin that was more blue and less gray than his captain's. He was the BRB 9000's Master-At-Arms, as well as being a childhood acquaintance of Gantu's at military school. "I guess that's another victory for me," Gantu said happily.

Jorg grimaced, and said, "yeah, I guess so. I'm going to go check on… the lasers or something."

"Come on," Gantu shouted to the rest of the officer's recreation room, "isn't there anybody who can beat me in arm wrestling?"

"How about Reuben?" a lizard-person spoke up from over a magazine. "I heard he could beat you in a fistfight, if he really wanted to."

Reuben dropped the remote from his position in front of the TV. "Aww, c'mon, Danc, you know I don't want to. Too much hard work."

"Oh, Reuben," a female lupine alien snickered, "You need to exert yourself once in a while. Otherwise you'll just turn into a blob."

"I do exert myself," Reuben replied. "I have to walk all the way from my room to the galley and back to make a midnight snack. This ship's huge, I'm out of bed for a half an hour." But it was no use. By now the entire crowd was cheering for him to go against Gantu. "Oh, all right." Reuben hadn't had that much resistance to the idea, in truth. Although he still didn't like to use his real power, he was now doing so occasionally (in secret, it embarrassed him for some reason) to keep his skills from getting rusty again if his life was ever truly in jeopardy. "Come on, G, let's put on a show for 'em."

"I'll make it painless," Gantu said with a wink. They clenched arms (Reuben had pulled up another chair more suited to somebody his size), and began to shove. Gantu almost instantly ended it before Reuben began using most of his strength, and slowly began regaining ground. Sweat beads formed on Gantu's face as Reuben passed the mid-point and gained the advantage. "Come on…" Gantu exerted himself to the same level he had with Jorg, but this only slowed the onslaught for a second. _He's going to win!_ Gantu thought. _I'll never live this down!_

"PACKAGE FOR CAPTAIN GANTU!" A small, shrew-like alien who worked scanners reported. Gantu slipped in the distraction, and accidentally used his mass advantage to throw both Reuben and his chair across the room before falling off his own stool.

Gantu got up and dusted himself off. "Thank you, cadet. That'll be all." He took the package. "Call that a draw, Reuben?" he offered as he pulled out a pen laser to cut the box open with.

"Yeah," Reuben muttered as he crawled out from under the chair. "Draw. Whaaatever." He suddenly wrinkled his nose as he neared the package. "Hey, chief, hold up a sec. What's IN that? It stinks like a month-old dumpster load."

"It kind of does," Gantu admitted. "Even I can smell it. Hmm… the return address…" he read a note on the card. "The GF checked it out. This is from Hamsterviel's suspected hideout! ...but they say the threat level from the package is negligible."

"Maybe he sent you some rotting meat for your birthday," Reuben suggested. "That's what it smells like. I recognize Hamsterviel's scent on it, too… and 627's…"

"Well, if this is what it smells like unopened, we'd better hold our breath," Gantu groaned. "What did they _send_ us, Experiment 254?!" He took in some air, as did Reuben. Then he aimed the laser, cut the box's tape, pulled it open, and gasped out his held breath at the contents.

Hamsterviel gazed up sightlessly and open-mouthed at him; or at least, his severed head did. The look of fear and panic he had worn at the moment of his death would decorate his face until it rotted away, which it had already begun to do since Bloodbath severed it and wrapped it up in a box. His eyes were wide open, and the red shine that usually decorated them had milked over. One of his teeth appeared to have been yanked out. Inside his mouth was a white business card, upon which was neatly written (apparently in Hamsterviel's blood), _"Don't make the same mistake he did. Join me or perish."_

**End of Story**

**That's two legs of this trilogy down. One left to go, and I won't be pulling any punches this time! It won't be exactly like the first two in format... the action will more be clustered toward the end. I will have a preview chapter coming in a couple weeks. I'm afraid I can't tell you when I'll actually begin posting. That's yet to be known.**

**Special thanks to Jimperator, who tried to be my beta at the beginning, but had to cease due to computer problems. Jimp, if you're still out there, I miss your con-crit. Special thanks also to Yellowfur, my sister and the person I bounce my ideas off of. Thanks to ProDG, Alius111, OurScars, and Kinger810, my most regular reviewers, as well as Yellowfur (again), Victor Delta Kitsune, Starforge921, and Experiment Sigma, for all your reviews. Thanks to Lilo and Stitch, Disney's masterwork. Finally, thanks to Yellowfur (yet again)**** and Rosepelt for leading me to fanfiction in the first place. You all have helped me to make this my biggest and best fic!**

**By the way, all of you who are regular writers as well as readers of fanfiction should check out my tournament, _A Winner Is You._ It's a tourney where each entering author chooses a canon character from any fandom, and the authors are pitted against each other. How does that work? Go to my forum to find out.**

**And now, the preview: The newly christened Bloodbath has returned, and he has an all-inclusive ultimatum: join him for an eternity of fun, or oppose him for a cruel death. As an ancient prophecy rears its ugly head, it's a question of who can overcome their personal demons long enough to come out on top - the forces of good, or those fallen to the darkness? Find out soon in my thrilling conclusion to the trilogy, _Null.exe._**


	26. Bonus Scene

**avatar: I don't own Lilo and Stitch, just the contents of this preview. And the looks on your faces.**

**Null.exe**

**Chapter ?**

Lilo gaped in horror at the two figures writhing on the ground in front of Bloodbath. "Stitch!" she cried.

"I'll take care of Jumba," Pleakley told her. "Go help the little monster!"

Lilo nodded and ran toward Stitch, but a red blur shot past Bloodbath and obstructed her path. "Where are you going, Lilo?" Leroy asked. "I think I've paid back Stitch at least in part, but you had a big hand too in condemning me."

"Leroy," Lilo said calmly, "I'm sorry for what happened, but-"

"IT'S TOO LATE FOR APOLOGIES!" Leroy screamed. "This is for sweet revenge!" He drove a fist into Lilo's gut, and she felt the wind knocked out of her. He pushed his fist farther up, and launched Lilo almost to the ceiling. As she reached the apex of her flight, Leroy tensed his legs and jumped up after her. "This is for the year I spent in prison!" He slammed two fists into her chest, crushing her into the ceiling. Leroy immediately fell to the ground, while Lilo stayed embedded for a moment. He ran to a wall and jumped to a point about halfway up just as Lilo began to fall. He bounced to the ceiling at the point where Lilo had been smashed, and jumped straight down, chasing her. "This is for not even TRYING to turn me good or make me part of your ohana!" He drove an elbow into Lilo's back, causing her to cry out as they smashed to the ground together and cratered the floor. A foul odor washed up from the splintered wood paneling around them; Leroy's blows must've busted a sewer line.

"Lilo!" Victoria cried out, but she went quiet when one of the Leroy clones snarled at her.

"THIS is for all the worldly pleasures I was robbed of!" Leroy screamed, picking up Lilo's limp form and giving a devastating kick to her. She flew back across the room. "And this is for all the nights I spent screaming myself to sleep!" He pulled out one of his special blasters and fired a thin, red shot. It caught up to Lilo in midair and landed directly in the center of her torso, leaving a circular burn through her shirt into her skin. Leroy ran toward Lilo as she struck the far wall, and quickly scaled it as she bounced off. "_This is for robbing me of my freedom, happiness, and sanity!_"He drove two backhands into her, sending her tumbling back across the room.

_Something's wrong,_ Bloodbath thought with a frown as he coldly watched the fight. _Leroy's not even using Null.exe. How's he moving like that without my gifts? Unless he's this far beyond his natural limit…_

Lilo was struggling to maintain consciousness as she hurtled through the air. Leroy's assault was completely unrelenting; she didn't have any time to regain control of her limbs between each attack, let alone defend herself. To make things worse, she felt a familiar heat and ache spreading through her body. She began to resist, but then she recalled Absolute's words…

_"Don't fight it… you'll only weaken yourself. By embracing yourself, and letting it flow through you, you'll gain all the power you need to defend your loved ones."_

"THIS IS FOR ME!" Leroy's scream brought Lilo back to reality. While she had been distracted, he had jumped to the ceiling and rebounded back towards her, and now he was directly above her in midair. She saw his tear-filled eyes flash red, and felt heat radiate from his fist as he pulled it back. The sound of Leroy's fist striking Lilo's face resounded thru the room, and Lilo's body crashed to the floor before finally rolling to a stop. Leroy stuck the landing, and turned to her, drawing all four of his blasters now. "And this is for all the other '_me'_s out there! Leroy clones… OPEN FIRE!" Each Leroy clone present drew his own blaster from his holster and mimicked the original Leroy by firing shot after shot into Lilo's prone form. The shots created a cloud of smoke that blanketed the whole room.

"Hold!" Leroy ordered, and the blasts stopped. The smoke blanketed a third of the room.

"Lilo?" Pleakley squeaked out. "Are you alright?"

"I doubt it," Leroy snarled in reply. "Even I probably couldn't survive that onslaught. And if she did… well, I'd just keep beating her until the problem was solved." He blinked his eyes red with infrared vision. "Damn, the blasters created too much heat. I can't see if she's still in one piece."

Suddenly, one of the Leroy clone's weapon lifted into the air, and sailed across the room, landing in the smoke cloud. Then another blaster was pulled from its user's paw and into the cloud. One after another this happened, until none of the clones were left with blasters. Leroy quickly holstered all of his, hoping that this kept it from happening to him. Apparently, it did. "The power I need… to help my friends…" Lilo's voice rang out. "I think I understand now." A pair of glowing blue eyes flared up from the dissipating smoke cloud, a silhouette slowly taking shape around them.

"So it won't be so easy…" Leroy dusted off his clothes with one pair of hands, and cracked his knuckles on the other pair. "Fine. I'm not nearly done getting revenge yet."

**End of Chapter**

**Keep in mind I just snuck you a preview from late in the story. It'll be up to you to find out how I got there from where this story leaves off. I won't be starting the fic for a while, but I've got a Lilo and Stitch oneshot I'll be posting at some point to keep you all from forgetting about me.**


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